Thoughts from Maharrey Head #88: I'm Outraged!

In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I talk about outrage culture. To visit the show notes page, click here: http://bit.ly/2ounn6w I'm outraged!! Aren't you? Last week, video of security dragging a United Airlines passenger off a flight sparked outrage. The backlash caused United stock to stumble. Social media continues to churn the story to this day. But that wasn't the only source of outrage last week. Trump press secretary Sean Spicer whipped everybody into a frenzy when he suggested the Nazis didn't use chemical weapons. And then there was the actual use of chemical weapons. Outrage over a Sarin gas attack allegedly launched by the Syrian government led the U.S. to lob cruise missiles at a government airbase in Syria. Watching reaction to these three events unfold, I noticed some commonality. There is a definite outrage culture growing in society. Don't get me wrong, there are certainly good reason to become outraged. But outrage culture grows out of a group-think mentality and it has some perverse consequences. Namely, it encourages emotional reactions instead of thoughtful response. That often ends poorly. In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I talk about outrage culture, and try to apply a little critical thinking to the various outrages of the past week.