My good friend Tony May began a discussion today in our writing group on the subject of “global anger.” He voiced his concern over the way violence seemed to be escalating, even in small towns that up until now, were simple sleepy hollows. He asked for ideas on why we thought it was happening, and I was surprised at the response that poured out of me.
I wanted to share it here (with apologies to Tony for running with his idea):
If there’s a cause of the escalating violence in our world, it has more to do with the isolation people feel in their anger, rather than any particular thing that’s causing their anger. People are losing their sense of community, and with that comes a fear of losing control and a lack of trust. Individual rights to vent anger freely, have taken over the rights of others who are the target of that anger, or simply witnesses to it. Everyone is affected by it.
Too few people are willing to cut anyone any slack these days. They want to be angry because it makes them feel in control, or superior, or powerful, and most definitely, righteous. They’ve learned to take pleasure in cutting others down to size. They are more eager to believe the worst of people than they are to give them the benefit of the doubt. It explains the success of tabloids. People are more afraid of looking like fools for being “too kind” than looking unkind for judging too hardshly or unjustly. Suspicion and paranoia reign supreme, and the media has caused it to spread like a disease.
When we see educated people looking down their noses at the undereducated, or people hating another ethnic group simply because they’ve congregated in large numbers in one area and opened businesses selling their own ethnic food, food, and clothing; when you have religious groups who believe that prayer brings personal and financial success, so anyone who fails in that area must deserve it because they can’t be living as God intended; when you have older people resenting younger ones because they lack the life experience to appear so self-assured, or when you have people thinking less of you because somewhere along the line you failed at the big “American Dream;” when you have people ask you 1. what you do for a living? 2. where you live? 3. and what college and college team your kids have made it into? and you’re keenly aware that if your answers aren’t right, they stop listening; when your success or failure is measured by your children’s success or failure, and kids value their parents on the basis of “what they’ve achieved,” or “what they own;” and parenthood becomes just one more area where you feel you have to compete; when the “have nots” are assumed to be lazy and undeserving; when people are so effing scared to be honest about their feelings for fear of how others will judge them, well, that’s when you end up with the mess you see right now.
Eventually, it won’t necessarily be the anger behind a gun that will cause deaths. It will be the anger we hold onto that may as well kill us outright. It can become the reason for some people’s existence – a way to stand their ground, their swords drawn and ready for dangers they perceive will come their way. Letting that anger fester and build is a conscious choice, just as they say being happy is a conscious choice.
In the final analysis, all we can control is our own reactions to the shit life hands us. If we can’t learn to put things into perspective, and hope the next generation follows our lead, then I fear that someday, Mad Max’s world won’t seem all that far-fetched.
ROADBLOCKS, DETOURS and ROUNDABOUTS 
No problems at all with running this thread, Linda. It it is of concern to us all and should be discussed everywhere possible.
I will be back with a comment this afternoon.
Tony
Sometimes I rant
The latest offering by British Naturist David Attenborough is one of his best, maybe THE best of his lengthy career. Forget Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola or Tarentino; give me Sir David anytime. His voice added to superb research put his films on a shelf without equal. I like the Grosvenor (National Geographic) offerings but they don’t rise to the same level. Parents should expose their children to Attenborough’s work at every opportunity. Without tossing blood on women wearing fur or tying himself to a tree he brings the issues of global warming and other impending crisis to the forefront in a subtle but effective manner. I believe his films should be mandatory for all to see. It could save our planet.
His recent film, Life In the Undergrowth, released in 2005, addresses some of the more peculiar critters living in the places we don’t see, like under ferns, hanging from bushes or tucked away in colonies out of sight. I watch his films with the remote in hand, stopping it and reversing to catch something I missed or want to see again.
By the time the credits roll, he has convinced me, as in all his films, that man is NOT the most intelligent being on the planet. In many ways he’s is one of the more naïve critters to walk the land. When our ancestor’s “fore-paws” rose from the forest floor a large part of the brain disconnected.
Many ant colonies thrive using the same traits we humans possess but they know when to stop. Man is the only critter that keeps going, as if to flaunt the fact they possess the means to destroy all they encounter. We should look closer at the ants.
I’ve heard men claim that war is a practice seen in the animal world, especially in the kingdom of the ants. Yes, they do wage war, but they use a lot more intelligence than man.
A colony can consist of millions and millions of ants. There are different types of ants, each unique function an integral part of the colony. They have the queen, the servants, the workers, the ones that run the nursery, the farmers that milk the friendly aphids for their sugar and many more. I have yet to hear of an ant politician or attorney. They don’t need them. There is a right way and a wrong way. The right way helps the colony survive. The wrong way hurts the colony and behavior of this fashion will get you killed. They don’t tolerate subversion.
The colony needs food, and they grow much of it. Other food is gathered from their surroundings. They also prey on the local termite colonies. The natural competition between the two species is endless, BUT…they do not destroy each other. They need each other to survive.
When needed, an ant colony will send out scouts to find a local termite colony. When they return with their “intelligence” an army of warrior ants is briefed before departing on a mission to the termite colony. They engage in war with the termites, kill the warrior termites defending the place before gathering what they need to replenish their food supplies and leave. They do not leave a battlefield of dead warriors in their wake and enter the colony to destroy the rest of the population. They take just what they need and leave the termites capable of continuing their existence. They don’t take over the place and force the termites to work just for the betterment of the ant colony. Nor do they force them to live their way. They don’t rape the women and take ALL the food. They leave the colony intact and it quickly recovers in a way that indicates the attack may have benefits for the termite population.
So, war may be seen among the animal kingdom, if you want to call it that. But only man has taken things to the point where we aren’t happy just to live and let live. We must annihilate those we find in opposition. We don’t even have to have a reason to attack. Man is a jealous critter and will destroy those possessing something they don’t, even if it is just peace and harmony. It’s all based on “anger”.
Animals get angry, usually if threatened, but only man lays in wait and destroys, even to the point of self-annihilation. Somewhere back in our evolutionary path, the “anger” gene won out over common sense. It’s easy to see how this would win out over common sense. I hope, when they get the keys back, that the ants continue with their policies.
I don’t think they have a long wait before they are back at the helm.
Norm
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Norm. The film sounds fascinating and you can be sure I’ll be hunting it down. You raise some really interesting points. I guiess, in the long run, the biggest differnce betweene man and the rest of the animal world is our capacity for good and bad.
well put, linda
i agree — isolationg and insecurity bring out the worst in us humans.
keep provoking us to think deeper for solutions, each of us in our small corner
Thanks for dropping in Michelle. I think part of the mistake we make is waiting for the circumstances around us to make us “better people,” e.g. ‘when the recession is over, there will be less strife,” or that “under Obama’s influence, people will relax and be kinder to each other.” No solutions are that simple, and we’ve seen that even in the most peaceful and prosperous of times, man’s capacity and desire to hurt each other does not lessen. In some cases, it seems to grow.
It really does all start with the individual.