Why ‘groupthink’ misses social protests

Protests are often not acts of deliberation but desperation, because the protestors feel that they are not in charge of their lives and those in charge do not seem to care, or worse, do not seem to be aware of the depths of their predicaments. — AFP

LANDING in the exotically beautiful island of Flores (Flower in Portuguese), east of Bali, the rest of the world is far away. Away from the protests that are erupting in China, Iran, Brazil and in Europe.

Social scientists will have a field day dissecting why such protests have erupted everywhere. The proximate causes appear to be discontent with the pandemic, loss of jobs and income, high inflation, and how authorities mishandled the situation.