HATE AND VITRIOL: A SOCIAL TREND

The crude language of populism and offensive ‘jokes’ are spreading across society like an aggressive virus. It’s pervaded waiting rooms and supermarket check-outs; hate and vitriol, it seems, are everywhere. What on earth is wrong with people these days? What’s made them so aggressive and over-sensitive? And what does the guy ranting his way around the supermarket have in common with Donald Trump? Where does all this meanness come from? Jan Skudlarek examines a disquieting social trend, along the way exploring the role of political correctness, asocial networks, the unfortunate human tendency to feel insulted – and the common man’s big mouth.