Outraged
Everybody likes a good moan now and then. The usual targets are bosses, members of one’s own family, celebrities, the Government, etc. Individuals are “appalled”, “disgusted”, ‘shocked”, “astonished” or “staggered” by the behaviour of individuals or institutions.
Such brief outbursts, particularly with a compliant and agreeable group of friends can be cathartic and if certain topics are avoided such as religion, politics, and how to bring up children then most people move on to carry on with day to day living.
However, for some people expressing outrage becomes an end in itself and almost an addiction. In fact some people make a career from outrage. A quick scroll through Twitter will bring up outrage addicts some of whom make a decent living out of it.
Most outrage addicts are bores, simply because on any given topic, you can predict what they are going to say or write before they have spaffed their insincere outrage. It rarely leads to individual action to put right the perceived wrongs because that would involve a mindset change that most outrage addicts are unable to countenance. Perhaps the best form of treatment for this addiction is for listeners and readers to ignore the outpourings which may cut off the oxygen.
