‘What Happens Next?’: Are We Getting More Rude?

Have you noticed that for a while now, everyone’s seemed a bit less patient with each other, and a bit more touchy? Post-pandemic, it feels as though navigating everyday interactions with friends, family and strangers is trickier. Lockdown helped stop the spread of COVID-19, but it didn’t do our social skills any favours. In some ways, we’ve forgotten how to get along.

The concept of “civility” goes beyond simple politeness  – it’s a crucial virtue that binds people together in a common life, fostering productive, respectful dialogue and rigorous conversation. It’s also essential for maintaining the integrity of some of our most important social structures.

In the final two-part series of the eighth season of Monash University’s What Happens Next? podcast, host Dr Susan Carland is joined by world-leading journalists, commentators and academics for an investigation of civility.

Is that decline in politeness we’re all sensing real, or merely perceived? Research conducted by Monash political scientists Dr Steven Zech and Dr Matteo Bonotti indicates there’s been an incremental increase in incivility in society, especially in the aftermath of global stressful events. Steve discusses the concerning trend of increasing incivility among certain groups, especially politicians.

Perhaps the most obvious examples of rude behaviour may be found on our roads. Dr Amanda Stephens, a senior research fellow at the Monash University Accident Research Centre, discusses road rage and the “de-identifying bubbles” of our cars, which cause drivers to become more hostile and less tolerant towards each other.

Read: Anger and aggressive driving all the rage on our roads

Professor Lucas Walsh, Director of Monash’s Centre for Youth Policy and Education Practice, says that as our society becomes more diverse and individualised, finding shared values and a mutual understanding of the common good becomes a critical challenge. Without them, a breakdown of civility in public discourse is inevitable.

In democracies, civility means engaging in a way that invites response and acknowledges humanity.

Dr Waleed Aly and Scott Stephens, co-hosts of ABC Radio National’s The Minefield and co-authors of Quarterly Essay’s “​​Uncivil Wars: How Contempt Is Corroding Democracy”, consider the issue of contempt and its relationship with civility, highlighting how it can erode the foundation of a democratic society via dehumanisation, making meaningful, just discourse difficult.

They stress the importance of recognising the humanity in others, and the need for answerability in our interactions with new ideas and each other.

The global challenges ahead of us are immense. Will heightened tensions lead to heightened aggression? And is it too late to stop social media algorithms and media sensationalism from dehumanising us further and stirring up even more contempt? Listen now to find out what happens next.

“You can’t get to a just place through unjust means. You can only realise some future justice by pursuing just means on your way there.” - Scott Stephens

What Happens Next? will be back next week with part two of this series and our final episode of the season – “Can We Learn to Be More Civil?”. Don’t miss a moment of season eight – subscribe now on your favourite podcast app.

Already a subscriber? You can help other listeners find the show by giving What Happens Next? a rating and review.

Listen to more What Happens Next? podcast episodes