Not so many years ago, two young Finns ignited a viral fascination with their Angry Birds media franchise. There was something genuinely appealing about these squabbling avian combatants. Last week evidenced that anger isn’t just for the birds and, when observed elsewhere, is not nearly so amusing.

Candidate Trump informed us if we believe he was belligerent during his previous campaigns, we’ve seen nothing compared to how angry he is today. Earlier in the month five police thugs beat Tyre Nichols to death in Memphis. Self-defense was not the issue, nor was reckless driving – their alleged excuse for a traffic stop. These were viscerally angry men venting some shared, collective rage.

In response, Jeffrey St. Clair penned a powerful essay explaining why Black Americans have long known, “If you must call a policeman… for God’s sake, try to make it a White one (rather than) a Black Brother in uniform whose entire reason for breathing seems to be his hope to offer proof that, though he is Black, he’s not Black like you.” Nichols killers were all black. Witnessing their vicious brutality, how can anyone question the necessity for immediate policing reform? You don’t have to be a Black Lives Matter activist for their message to resonate as fully justified.

Americans have been growing angrier for decades, increasingly consumed with bizarre, paranoid hatreds. Mark Twain noted, “it’s what you’re sure of that just ain’t so” which leads to trouble. COVID-19 made things worse. Passengers began attacking flight attendants, customers picked fights with store clerks and parents assaulted teachers regarding masking requirements. Dying patients accused nurses struggling to keep them alive of participating in a hoax. In Colorado, domestic abuse is up, crime has accelerated, road rage and fatal traffic accidents are through the roof. Why are so many so damned angry?

Pankaj Mishra got a jump on this question with his 2017 bestseller, “Age of Anger.” He traces much of our current angst to recurring cultural turmoil following the advent of the industrial revolution. As changing economic arrangements demand different personal strengths, previously thriving groups lose status. Sadly, this uprooting of hierarchy and social traditions often nurtures acts of spectacular violence. The current pace of cultural change has shot past the information revolution and promises the impending disruptions of artificial intelligence (soon ChatGPT may be drafting my op-ed columns. I certainly can’t review, compare and contrast 50,000 papers discussing anger in under a minute).

British-Sudanese writer Mesrine Malik points out political demagogues around the globe have been quick to suggest the notion of “…returning to a time before it all went wrong (think MAGA and BREXIT), rather than recognizing that things have been going wrong all along.” And, if change drives your fear, much else promises to continue going wrong.

I often consider my great-great grandfather Samuel, who was a wagon master on the Santa Fe Trail. Samuel had only a fifth-grade education, but he became a prosperous trader at a time when strength and endurance were rewarded. At 6-feet-8 inches and 280 pounds, he was made for frontier life. My son, 6-feet-6 inches and 225 pounds, earned a Master’s degree and spends his days staring at a computer screen. Preparing for a rapidly evolving future seems a wiser strategy than attempting a return to a past before vaccines.

Speaking personally, I’ve always found anger a tremendous energy suck. Furthermore, it serves as a distraction from plotting revenge – a surprise dish best served cold. For a time, anger management classes were recommended as a remedy for behavioral outbursts. Even courts jumped on the bandwagon, but there is substantial skepticism about the value of such tutorials.

Similar reservations are raised regarding the enduring impact of gender and racial sensitivity trainings, even speculation they can backfire. Peer pressure, family shaming and zero tolerance workplace policies likely produce more lasting results. My twin brother and I quarreled regularly, but we learned to conduct our disputes offstage and far from our parents. There is nothing admirable, masculine or praiseworthy in rage displays.

Police encounter many of us at our worst moments. They arrive after a crime has been committed. They should and must be the adults in the room, whatever provocations are directed at them. Fifty years ago, Denver led the nation in police shootings. Following nearly 40 years of mostly Black and Hispanic mayors placing a continuous emphasis on community policing – and, yes, a recognition on the part of officers that abuse of Black and brown residents wouldn’t play well at City Hall – we’ve dodged the worst of recent policing blunders. For this we should be thankful. Despite diligent supervision, tomorrow could always be different. The 2021 George Floyd protests and recent homeless sweeps have tested the tolerance of both cops and citizens. Keep your fingers crossed.

Miller Hudson is a public affairs consultant and a former Colorado legislator.