Zócalo Public Square

American mass shooters. Islamic terrorists. Vengeful nationalists. Racist presidents. Social media misogynists. In today’s world, paranoid hatreds—and the wrath of the people who spread them—is inescapable. Where does all the rage come from? Pankaj Mishra, author of "Age of Anger: A History of the Present," locates the answer, paradoxically, in modernity’s successes. As the world has become more closely linked via mass politics and technology and the pursuit of wealth, those unable to enjoy the fruits of progress have been cast adrift, uprooted from older traditions. Many have responded by lashing out. Mishra visited Zócalo to explore the paradoxical perils of freedom, stability, and prosperity, in a conversation titled “Why Is the Modern World So Angry?” moderated by Gregory Rodriguez, founder and editor-in-chief, Zócalo Public Square, at the National Center for the Preservation for Democracy, in Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles.