Summary

The final chapter of Age of Anger aptly summarizes the main problems in today’s world and alludes once more to the historical progression of events and ideas which led to them. The space “between serene elites and mute masses” (326) is precisely where all modern militants have come from and is the same space articulated by philosophers and writers such as Alexander Herzen and Rousseau, whom the author has quoted extensively. This space today is characterized by “the stark extremes of political inflexibility and anarchic revolt, insuperable backwardness and a gaudy cult of progress” (327).

The author proceeds to explain how intellectuals, by embodying a belief in continuous progress towards some more modern future, have throughout history actually unleashed unexpected consequences. Now, “billions of the world’s poorest are locked into a Social Darwinist nightmare” (332) and ‘ressentiment’ exists more than ever before, especially...