I don’t think people are that much different now, other than from information overload, if anything I think the average person is more critical of government than ever. We’ve seen large protests from farmers/free Palestine/anti-immigration. To date these issues have, broadly speaking, attracted either left or right but haven’t galvanised a united front. Personally I think we’re only 1 issue away from major civil unrest. I think back to the Poll Tax because everyone hated it and it kicked off big time, riots, non-payers going to prison etc.
