Are We Addicted to Outrage?

[maumann]

Don't harsh my mellow!

 

[Slacker]

I don't think people are experiencing much genuine outrage at all. I actually think it's the opposite -- that people have gotten very complacent. Whatever they do say, think or express, however, is amplified not only by mass media, social media and MSM but also the greater permissiveness and the acceptance of and openness with regard to...well, everything. It's noisier than it used to be, and the noise is louder.

 

[User 149557]

We have no in-between. People either want to be blissfully unaware (GOOD VIBES ONLY!!!!!) or raving mad.

 

[hondo]

Republicans are.

Both sides are. Antifa rioted in Portland for weeks and month after most of the summer's BLM protests, and no one really knew what the hell they wanted.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

I’m certainly not addicted to outrage. I dislike being pissed off. But I certainly have been, justifiably, at times during the past 5-6 years.

The normalization and enabling of blatant lies and criminal behavior by the trumpublicans is ****ing outrageous. They’ve lost their damn minds and souls in their lust for power.

It culminated in the attempted violent overthrow of our ****ing government. In the case of Jan. 6, I offer that there hasn’t been sufficient outrage.

 

[WriteThinking]

This is all mob-induced, and much of it is theater, not justified outrage, done and allowed under the guise of our rights to the freedoms of expression and assembly.

 

[Dog8Cats]

In the case of Jan. 6, I offer that there hasn’t been sufficient outrage.

This.

 

[Dog8Cats]

For all that the yell networks do to try to exploit outrage, I'll say that traditional MSM has lost the backbone to dare to spark outrage among its audience.

The best example I can cite (and I ask in advance for forbearance if I've muddled some of the finer details -- I didn't really follow the warmaking under that clown Texan "president') is when whatever war the U.S. was fighting in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks was taken to Pakistan. I worked a major metro at the time, and one day, on about A7, I see a headline reading ~~ "U.S. taking war to Pakistan"

Wait. What? A war (which, of course, started as the best example in the history of mankind of being so pissed off at Kentucky you bomb the **** out of Cleveland State) has now matriculated into another nation? Why isn't this 72-point, A1 material?

And what about the length of that war/those wars? They lasted much longer than our combined involvement in World Wars I and II ... and I think those were justifiable pursuits. Why were there not daily compare/contract graphics showing these Bush wars and wars that meant something?

Along the same line, where did your local daily place the "red alert for humanity" global frying story this week?

 

[cyclingwriter2]

Is it outrage or faux outrage? The number of people I know who get and remain angry over things that never happened/false equivalencies blows my mind.

 

[DanOregon]

I kind of think that's what I was getting at with this thread. Obviously there are things to be genuinely upset about, but then as soon as that starts to "wear off", it seems someone comes up with some "fresh outrage." Part of this - of course - is newsmedia "quoting" Twitter as if it is a legit source. I would give them credit if they actually contacted one of these tweeters and interviewed them, but that takes time. Got to feed the beast.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

Blame Bubba Helms
It’s all his fault

 

[dixiehack]

your local daily

No such thing in this market. Many others have one in name only. That’s part of where this went off the rails, when news became too costly to report. (TV is going through the same thing.) Opinion is cheap as hell and produces a bigger sugar rush anyway, so to hell with quality control.

 

[Alma]

I kind of think that's what I was getting at with this thread. Obviously there are things to be genuinely upset about, but then as soon as that starts to "wear off", it seems someone comes up with some "fresh outrage." Part of this - of course - is newsmedia "quoting" Twitter as if it is a legit source. I would give them credit if they actually contacted one of these tweeters and interviewed them, but that takes time. Got to feed the beast.

Part of this is the news media, period. They want to keep people mad. And polarized. It's profitable.

Not that big questions aren't interesting. They are. They're increasingly only allowed to be viewed through one or two political lenses, though.

 

[maumann]

Blame Bubba Helms
It’s all his fault

View attachment 11483

And that was after they won! Imagine being there in 1934 when the Cardinals had to pull Ducky Medwick. Too bad the fans in Detroit usually have better arms than the pitching staff.

 

[TigerVols]

This is all mob-induced, and much of it is theater, not justified outrage, done and allowed under the guise of our rights to the freedoms of expression and assembly.

So you get to decide what rage is justified and what is theater? Okayyyyy.

 

[WriteThinking]

So you get to decide what rage is justified and what is theater? Okayyyyy.

I get to decide that for myself, yes.

I didn't decide for you. But that's what I think it is -- and all of it was exacerbated, if not actually even caused, by the mob scene.