Dangerously alienated citizens brood on the dramatic disruption of their rising income expectations and materialistic lifestyles and the fact that the value of their property may have fallen through the floor.
The popular British historian Simon Schama is worried over where current trends are headed, declaring that "the world teeters on the brink of a new age of rage" ( Financial Times , May 22-23, 2010). He explained, "Historians will tell you there is often a time-lag between the onset of economic disaster and the accumulation of social fury" (emphasis added throughout).
Dangerously alienated citizens brood on the dramatic disruption of their rising income expectations and materialistic lifestyles and the fact that the value of their property may have fallen through the floor.
Many, he says, come to believe that "someone else must have engineered the common misfortune." So scapegoats must be found and duly blamed. The state of Israel, for instance, becomes a universal whipping boy, with worldwide displays of irrational outrage directed against its alleged misbehaviors.
Reality bites in Europe, where "widespread social unrest grows." It's been predicted that "the new austerity [restrictive measures to alleviate the recent European sovereign debt crisis] will impose strains on social peace in southern Europe" ("Beyond the Door Marked 'Austerity,'" New Statesman, May 24, 2010). This has already happened in the streets of Greece.
The following headline emerged in Ireland: "Irish 'Mad as Hell' Over Banks and Cuts" ( Irish Independent, May 22, 2010). In Thailand, one former parliament member now aligned with the "Red Shirts" (who maintain that the current government is illegitimate) observed, "People are filled with hatred and we must be prepared for a campaign of terrorism" ("Thailand: Raising a Red Flag," Time, June 7, 2010).
So, before this summer is even over, are we facing more and more populist furies around the world—further disrupting economic and political well-being?
The Bible cautions against ill-considered popular uprisings where rumor and accusation urge people to frenzied emotion and outbreaks of violence: "You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. You shall not follow a crowd to do evil" (Exodus 23:1-2). (Sources: New Statesman, Financial Times [both London], Time. )
