Elmo might just be the most astute political analyst of our times. When the Sesame Street star took to social media this week to ask how everyone was doing, he was greeted with an outpouring of raw emotion – anger, agony, despair and desperation.
Some 200 million views of his tweet prompted a collective breakdown about everyone’s state of mind, their lives, the world around them, their politics. The response proved so humongous that Joe Biden was compelled to endorse the puppet’s plea that we look out for each other more.
This glimpse into the state of society from this innocuous tweet points to the fact we are increasingly living in an age of rage and sadness, which is seeping into our politics. The result of all this anger is a dehumanising attitude that allows inflammatory sentiments to be openly expressed.
Take the Labour MP Tahir Ali, who proclaimed in the House of Commons that Rishi Sunak had “blood on hands” over the Israel-Gaza war. He later apologised for the unbecoming words, but the fact Ali felt able to say them speaks to the deterioration in our discourse.
Yet it is the decision of a north London MP to depart politics after multiple threats to his life that should make us all stop and think. Mike Freer has been in public service for 34 years – first as a councillor in Barnet, then leader of the council, before serving as the MP for Finchley and Golders Green since 2010 (the successor constituency to the one represented for decades by Margaret Thatcher).
He has been in government for seven years throughout the May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak administrations, serving in ministerial roles out of the limelight.
Freer made the unexpected decision on Wednesday following the recent suspected arson attack on his Finchley office. It followed an attack in 2011 by Muslims Against Crusades, a banned Islamist group who hounded him as a “Jewish homosexual pig”. He also narrowly missed an attempt by Ali Harbi Ali, the murderer of Sir David Amess.
Announcing the decision, Freer said that “a constant string of incidents” made it impossible to stay in public life. In short, he has been hounded out by hate.
There is some small hope from this depressing moment, as political figures of all persuasions expressed their horror. Labour’s Lucy Powell told MPs of her “profound regret” that Freer was quitting: “That any member is forced from office through intimidation, threats and fear is an attack on all of us and what we represent. It is unacceptable and we must do more to protect our freedoms and democracy.” And Reform’s Nigel Farage agreed with her – surely a first for both – that MPs must be better protected from such attacks.
Freer’s situation might feel unique, but he is merely another victim of the rage age.
He is not Jewish but represents a seat with one of the largest Jewish populations in Britain and has consistently voiced trenchant support for the community and campaigned from a pro-Israel stance. It is perfectly possible to have a peaceful but strong opposition to the Government’s stance on the Israel-Gaza situation, but not to the extent that a Member of Parliament should wake up each day thinking, “Am I going to survive the day?”
It is not only about politicians on the right who are targeted by this almost nihilistic world view.
President Biden, once the doyen of progressives in America, is now under frequent attacks from the likes of fellow Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for failing to fulfil their radical expectations and dreams. Justin Trudeau in Canada is facing similar pressure from the more radical flank of his party.
This darkening world view is proving particularly problematic for incumbents – Biden, Trudeau and the Conservatives here are all facing a shellacking from electorates pumped full of fury.
Freer cited the pernicious impact of social media for whipping up feelings of isolation and anxiety that are coarsening our outlook. This is particularly true for younger people, who are feeling these emotions in abundance along with a disconnection from real life.
Think tank Onward has dug into why 18 to 34-year-olds no longer see their youth as a time of optimism and exuberance – and their “always online” existence has much to do with it.
Just over a third of this generation say they have more friends virtually than in person. They are twice as likely to state they are lonely, and to think army rule would be a good way to run the country, as those who have more friends in real life.
Some social media platforms are worsening the situation by promoting selective and inflammatory content.
Such alienation is feeding radicalisation that erupts into fury. The rise in hateful (especially antisemitic) sentiments on our streets is, in part, due to a normalisation that you can intimidate your way to political objectives. Within the last decade, two MPs have been murdered by extremists.
It should not take the departure of a respected MP to bring this to the fore. It should especially not take the Twitter account of Elmo to remind people just how fed up and depressed our societal view has become. Tackling the underlying causes of hate, as well as those who perpetrate this, should be the highest priority to cool the temperature of our societies – especially for the sake of democracy.
Sebastian Payne is the director of the centre-right think-tank Onward
Mike Freer is merely another victim of the rage age
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01.02.2024
Elmo might just be the most astute political analyst of our times. When the Sesame Street star took to social media this week to ask how everyone was doing, he was greeted with an outpouring of raw emotion – anger, agony, despair and desperation.
Some 200 million views of his tweet prompted a collective breakdown about everyone’s state of mind, their lives, the world around them, their politics. The response proved so humongous that Joe Biden was compelled to endorse the puppet’s plea that we look out for each other more.
This glimpse into the state of society from this innocuous tweet points to the fact we are increasingly living in an age of rage and sadness, which is seeping into our politics. The result of all this anger is a dehumanising attitude that allows inflammatory sentiments to be openly expressed.
Take the Labour MP Tahir Ali, who proclaimed in the House of Commons that Rishi Sunak had “blood on hands” over the Israel-Gaza war. He later apologised for the unbecoming words, but the fact Ali felt able to say them speaks to the deterioration in our discourse.
Yet it is the decision of a north London MP to depart politics after multiple threats to his life that should make us all stop and think. Mike Freer has been in public service for 34 years – first as a........
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