In an age marked by political fragmentation, ecological crisis, and cultural upheaval, this article explores a troubling constant: the destructive impulse born of exclusion. Across continents and ideologies, from the burning Amazon to the corridors of Westminster, alienation breeds resentment, and resentment seeks release in destruction. This is not merely a political pattern but a human one, deeply rooted in our psychology, amplified by our histories, and dangerously relevant to our future.
The following aims not only to diagnose but also to provoke reflection on our collective path forward.
Abstract
The following examines the enduring human impulse to destroy that from which one feels excluded, with a particular focus on politics, the environment, and the manipulation of history. Drawing on psychological theories of alienation and resentment and sociological observations of populism, nationalism, and environmental exploitation, the article explores both British and international examples. From Brexit to Bolsonaro, from Trump to Putin, the destructive impulse is revealed as a dangerous, recurrent force in modern society.
Introduction: Destruction as a Response to Exclusion
The drive to dismantle that which excludes us is both ancient and alarmingly contemporary. Whether it is the disenfranchised worker tearing down democratic institutions, the nationalist leader exploiting environmental destruction as cultural defiance, or the authoritarian state rewriting history to manufacture inclusion, this impulse is one of society’s most destructive forces. This article will explore this phenomenon through the lenses of sociology and psychology, illustrating its manifestations in politics, environmental exploitation, and historical revisionism.
Psychological Roots: Alienation, Resentment, and the Catharsis of Destruction
Alienation, as Karl Marx first articulated, refers to the estrangement of individuals from systems of power, production, and community. Psychologically, this estrangement fosters resentment, a powerful emotion capable of mutating into nihilism and aggression.
Erich Fromm, in The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, argued that when constructive participation in society is blocked, people often turn to destructive avenues as a substitute for meaning. Destroying the system, or even simply damaging it, becomes a way to assert agency.
Modern neuroscience reinforces this. Studies reveal that feelings of exclusion activate the same neural pathways associated with physical pain. Anger and resentment follow, with destruction offering momentary dopamine surges, a perverse form of emotional relief.
This framework helps us understand why disaffected populations frequently support policies and leaders that promise not careful reform but cataclysmic change.
How does income inequality affect the support for populist parties?
Politics: Populism and the Spectacle of Systemic Destruction
Populist leaders and movements often transform politics into a theatre of destruction. By directing public anger towards institutions, international bodies, or cultural scapegoats, they stage dramatic confrontations that conceal quieter, more self-serving agendas. This spectacle of rage becomes a smokescreen, distracting followers from policies that further entrench inequality and elite control.
Crucially, those who embrace these movements often become trapped in cycles of deception. Seduced by promises of liberation and revenge, they unknowingly endorse agendas that deepen their own marginalisation.
Brexit: An Act of Destructive Sovereignty
In Britain, Brexit functioned as both a political and psychological purge. For many Leave voters, particularly in deindustrialised towns, the European Union symbolised a globalist order that left them behind. The Leave campaign capitalised on this resentment, portraying the EU as an exclusionary bureaucracy, alien to British life. Destroying this relationship became an act of national catharsis, even as the practical consequences — economic disruption, reduced international influence, and internal division — continue to unfold.
Meanwhile, many of the architects of Brexit pursued deregulation and privatisation, policies that primarily benefit the wealthy while leaving ordinary citizens facing greater precarity. Thus, the spectacle of sovereignty masked the entrenchment of inequality, with voters becoming victims of the very forces they sought to resist.
The United States: Trumpism and the Politics of Resentment
In the United States, Donald Trump expertly manipulated resentment, framing global institutions, progressive policies, and environmental regulations as tools of elite domination. By attacking these systems, Trump offered his supporters the vicarious thrill of dismantling a world they felt excluded from.
“All those good things? Sorry, they’re not for you. If you feel an urge to tear it all down, to burn the whole stinking, hypocritical, exclusive system to the ground, Trump is your man. Or so he claims. In reality his entire performance is both a distraction from and an accelerant of spiralling inequality. He can hardly lose: the more he exacerbates inequality, the more he triggers an urge for revenge against his scapegoats: immigrants, trans people, scientists, teachers, China.” George Monbiot.
But behind the chaos, his administration quietly advanced tax cuts for the wealthy, deregulated industries, and stacked courts with partisan judges. The Capitol riots of January 6, 2021, were the violent climax of this manipulated outrage: an attempted annihilation of democratic process by those convinced they had been silenced, all while serving the interests of the powerful elites they believed they were opposing.
Hungary, India, and Poland: The Global Rise of Authoritarian Nationalism
Hungary under Viktor Orbán illustrates this pattern vividly. Orbán has systematically undermined democratic norms while promoting a vision of Hungary as a besieged, pure nation. His attacks on migrants, NGOs, and the press serve as distractions from corruption and cronyism that consolidate his power at home.
In India, Narendra Modi employs Hindu nationalist rhetoric to target minority groups and intellectuals, framing them as threats to India’s greatness. Under this guise, his government has implemented policies that increase social division while advancing economic strategies that favour corporate allies.
Poland’s Law and Justice Party (PiS) has likewise eroded judicial independence and media freedoms while wrapping their actions in nationalist narratives. Their cultural offensives and historical revisionism serve to mask growing authoritarianism and policies that disadvantage the very workers they claim to defend.
Environment: Destruction as Defiance
Environmental degradation frequently reflects not just economic exploitation, but cultural resentment. The protection of nature is often framed by populists as the moralising project of distant elites.
Brazil: Bolsonaro and the Amazon
Under Jair Bolsonaro, deforestation of the Amazon rainforest was not merely tolerated but encouraged. Bolsonaro cast environmentalists as enemies of Brazilian sovereignty, suggesting that preserving the Amazon served foreign interests rather than national pride. Thus, environmental destruction became an assertion of power by those feeling marginalised in global politics.
United Kingdom: Deregulation Post-Brexit
Post-Brexit Britain faces similar risks. The deregulatory agenda, promoted by those championing sovereignty over shared European standards, threatens hard-won environmental protections. Here, as elsewhere, the dismantling of environmental laws is presented not as recklessness, but as liberation from external control.
Australia: Climate Denial and Resource Exploitation
Under Scott Morrison, Australia resisted international climate obligations, doubling down on coal exports and fossil fuel dependency. Morrison framed climate activism as an assault on Australian jobs and sovereignty, turning environmental destruction into a form of nationalist defiance.
United States: Climate Denial and Policy Rollbacks
The Trump administration rolled back numerous environmental regulations, framing them as burdens on American industry and workers. Climate change denial became a cultural badge, signifying resistance to a scientific consensus perceived as exclusionary.
History: Rewriting the Past to Justify the Present
Control over history is control over identity. For those who feel excluded from a dignified narrative of the nation, rewriting history becomes an act of reclamation.
Russia: Putin and the Myth of Imperial Glory
Under Vladimir Putin, Russian history has been carefully curated to justify both domestic repression and foreign aggression. Soviet triumphs are glorified, while atrocities such as the Holodomor and Katyn massacre are minimised or denied. In Russia, Ukraine’s independence is framed as a historical aberration, paving the way for war.
Britain: Imperial Nostalgia and the Culture Wars
In Britain, the “culture wars” over statues and school curriculums reflect a similar impulse. Efforts to confront the brutality of empire are often met with fierce resistance, with critics accusing revisionists of “rewriting history”. Yet, it is the sanitised version of imperial history that truly distorts the past, erasing the voices of the colonised to preserve a myth of British benevolence.
India: Modi and Historical Revisionism
In India, Modi’s government has sought to recast India’s history to favour a Hindu nationalist narrative, sidelining the pluralistic and syncretic traditions that have long defined the subcontinent. This rewriting serves to exclude minority communities and justify contemporary exclusionary policies.
China: Xi Jinping and the Command of Memory
Under Xi Jinping, China has intensified its control of historical narrative. From erasing references to the Tiananmen Square massacre to the sanitisation of Uyghur persecution, historical amnesia is weaponised to consolidate power and erase dissent.
Further reading:
Towards Inclusion and Repair
The urge to destroy from exclusion is not an inevitability, but it is a recurring danger. Societies that fail to address the roots of alienation and resentment will continue to breed destructive politics, environmental degradation, and historical falsehoods.
The remedy lies in genuine inclusion. This means addressing material inequalities but also fostering cultural narratives that embrace complexity and plurality. It requires political courage to move beyond simplistic slogans towards policies of integration, environmental stewardship, and historical honesty.
As Hannah Arendt warned, the deliberate cultivation of cynicism and resentment poisons public life. Yet thinkers like Rebecca Solnit remind us that hope is an act of defiance itself. We must choose to build, not to burn.
Ultimately, the choice is stark: continue down the path of destruction or build societies robust enough to include all their members in the shared task of preserving truth, democracy, and the planet.
References
- Fromm, Erich. The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973.
- Marx, Karl. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844.
- Freud, Sigmund. Civilisation and Its Discontents. 1930.
- Arendt, Hannah. The Origins of Totalitarianism. Harcourt, 1951.
- Solnit, Rebecca. Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities. Canongate, 2016.
- “Brexit: Causes and Consequences”, The Economist, 2020.
- Klein, Naomi. This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate. Simon & Schuster, 2014.
- Applebaum, Anne. Twilight of Democracy. Penguin, 2020.
- Snyder, Timothy. The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America. Bodley Head, 2018.
- Dorset Eye. Adopt Dialectical History To Make Sense Of The Past And Create A Better Future. 2024.
- Monbiot, George. Rightwing populists will keep winning until we grasp this truth about human nature. The Guardian. 2025.
