To begin with, there is plenty of blame to go around for the polluted water debacle, from the factory owner Kiil who is dumping contaminates into the river, to the corrupt mayor and other politicians who are covering it up to protect the town's economy, to the press who are willing to sell their coverage to the highest bidder regardless of truth or accuracy. But neither is Dr. Stockmann completely blameless. It is at the public meeting that things take a turn for the worse; again, Mayor Pete and newspaper publisher Aslaksen are in no small part responsible for this but Dr. Stockmann doesn't help, with his attitude and behaviour. At the meeting, a justifiably frustrated Stockmann loses his temper and, instead of using his allotted time to persuade the crowd with facts and sound arguments, lambasts them in a furious tirade. This does nothing for his cause. It is common knowledge that crowds can be swayed- for good or ill- by impassioned speeches, eloquently delivered (see: Mark Anthony's speech at Caesar's funeral). In an ideal world, people would make rational decisions on issues based on all available information, without regard to their feelings about the person or persons delivering said info. But we do not live in an ideal world, and people will often make decisions- even against their own interests- based on emotion. How often, for example, we see capitalism being portrayed as a heartless and cruel system, and socialism/communism as compassionate and caring. The reality is, of course, that millions have been lifted out of poverty by way of capitalism, while every place communism/socialism has got its claws into, it's resulted in poverty, starvation, and loss of freedom- economic and otherwise. But for a lot of people, a doctrine of "sharing" and "free stuff for all" seems intuitively kinder than one of competition and personal responsibility, and they vote accordingly. Many people want to think that their leaders care about them; I personally have never wanted a politician to pretend to be everyone's buddy... I just want them to cut bureaucracy, taxes, and excess government spending, see to national security, and otherwise mostly leave us alone. But it would be nice to not suspect that they despise and therefore disregard us. Which leads us back to Dr. Stockmann.
Stockmann is obviously in the right here: people are getting sick at the spa and the water tests prove that the springs are contaminated. But it's possible to be right in the wrong way, and to lose the argument because of it. Stockmann comes across as elitist and arrogant in the meeting, even more so in Ibsen's original work than in Miller's adaptation as I discussed in Part One, where he likened himself and other intellectuals to purebred dogs, and the crowd to mongrels. But even in Miller's work, which removes some of the most offensive passages, Stockmann is brutal: "I put in a good many years in the north of our country. Up there the rulers of the world are the great seal and the gigantic squadrons of duck. Man lives on ice, huddled together in little piles of stones. His whole life consists of grubbing for food. Nothing more. He can barely speak his own language. And it came to me one day that it was romantic and sentimental for a man of my education to be tending these people. They had not yet reached the stage where they needed a doctor. If the truth were to be told, a veterinary would be more in order." This disgusting view of his fellow men- stated in anger, but stated nonetheless- is not going to win anyone to his side. These people are terrified that their livelihoods are going to disappear. There are ways Stockmann could have reasoned with them: pointing out that, if tourists sicken and maybe die at the spa, it turns out that the water caused it, and the authorities knew and did nothing, the resulting scandal will destroy the springs- and town- completely. Whereas, if they close the spa temporarily, stop the contamination, and give the water time to clear, they may very well be able to reopen and save the business. But after Stockmann disdainfully shoots off his mouth, no one there believes he has their best interests at heart. They believe- with good reason- that he despises them all. He treats the people as though they are his inferiors- his enemies- so it's not surprising that they in turn decide that he is, in fact, their enemy.