The 1990s have seen a notable and frightening increase in the amount of anger in American politics. Not since the upheavals of the late 1960s has violent rhetoric (not to mention violent action) and wild conspiracy theorizing been so much a part of the American political scene.

Gavin Esler, American correspondent for the BBC, has written a timely and excellent book about this national sense of unease and distrust. Esler argues that Americans have become as angry as they have for five reasons: a growing economic disparity that is undermining the middle class; a sense that government is working against Americans rather than for them; increasing division between subgroups in American society; a sense that American culture is in moral decline; and the ignorance of most Americans about the world beyond our borders.

Esler begins by making an important (and too rarely made) distinction between the condition of America in the aggregate and the lives of Americans. The country as a whole has never been in better condition -- the American economy is booming, the Cold War is over, and some Americans (especially those with computer skills) are richer than they ever imagined they would be.

But other Americans are also in a position they never imagined -- watching their standard of living either falling or in danger of falling as they work longer hours or have to find jobs with lower pay (as one of Esler's interviewees put it: "Bill Clinton says he has created 11 million new jobs since he became president. Sure he has. And I have four of them.") For many, the American Dream has become unattainable. These people wonder if America's best days are behind her, and they are angry.

Their anger is fanned by the rise of a media culture that thrives on conflict and scandal. Political reporters reduce every issue to a battle between Clinton and the Republican Congress. "The X-Files" and other government-exposé (fictional and non-fictional) shows have cult followings. And, of course, there are daytime talk shows.

While purveying this garbage, the media is failing in its responsibility to help Americans understand a world growing ever more complex. Esler found that ignorance about the world was common among Americans -- for example, one in four polled thought that unemployment was 25% (the level it had reached during the Great Depression), and a vast majority thought that the United States had an anti-ICBM defense deployed.

Along with ignorance, Americans display a frightening passivity -- many are willing to complain, but few are willing to try to alleviate the problems. Esler notes that many Americans seem more eager to use their bad fortune to claim victim status (and, thus, an excuse) than they are to make their lives better. They have developed a sense of entitlement to happiness and good fortune, and if these are missing in their lives, then it must be someone's fault. Esler illustrates the lengths to which some people will go to blame others, detailing the fever for lawsuits and conspiracy theories that has strained the civility of American life.

Despite all of the contrary evidence he presents, Esler remains optimistic about the future of America, and confident that Americans will "measure up to their own best traditions" and successfully meet the challenges that face us. The United States of Anger is a well-written, thorough look at the problems facing America and Americans, and is a valuable guide to the possibilities and pitfalls of the future.

Review posted 12 July 1998