HELEN ZILLE: Finding sanity in a stampede of agitrolling, fauxrage and verbiflage

Few South Africans have heard of Jonathan Haidt, but it’s time they did. His lucid writing on the profound shift in moral culture happening across the English-speaking world has enabled me to make sense of developments that would otherwise be as incomprehensible as they are disturbing.

Haidt, a social psychologist. is professor of ethical leadership at New York University. One of his research fields is the psychology of morality, a concept I had never heard of until I discovered his work. Now that I am familiar with the term, and its many applications, a lot has fallen into place. One is the impact of social media...