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Anger, he smiles,
Towering in shiny purple metallic armour
Queen Jealousy, envy waits behind him
Her fiery green gown sneers at the grassy ground.
-- Jimi Hendrix, Bold as Love
Chronic anger is a disease. One of the symptoms is that it leads to divisions, as in when groups of angry individuals splinter into smaller and smaller sub-groups that are hostile to one another. This is what we are witnessing in American society today, just as it is spreading around the globe.
Its happening in large regions of this country, and within states, communities, and neighborhoods. Indeed, it is happening within families. Chronic anger elected Donald Trump as the next president. One would have to be in full denial to believe that the nation is not experiencing a serious illness.
There are divisions between the progressive and liberal communities, which were brought to a head by the 2016 presidential election. If one were to read closely enough, one could even find evidence of this on the Democratic Underground.
Now, Im not talking about the spontaneous emotion of anger. Closely related to fear, in the context of the brain and body, anger has played a role in human evolution. Rather, I am talking about chronic anger, which is destructive to both the individuals brain and body, and to groups of people.
Chronic anger makes individuals and groups self-righteous. It brings about selfishness, and other forms of self-deception. And this is self-defeating. I can think of no better example than a statistic I heard reported, that some 14% of registered Democrats voted for Donald Trump. Safe to say that these were angry, rather than happy, people.
In this sense, anger and fear share many common characteristics. None are more important than their good and bad potentials: for if handled properly, they can produce the fuel required to achieve victory, or each can result in burn-out -- with anger causing a form of burn-out that the individual fails to recognize. Chronic anger exhausts ones ability to think rationally and objectively.
In a healthy, well-functioning society, the chronically angry people are understood to have problems. In an unhealthy, dysfunctional society, those angriest of people are mistaken for leaders. Again, there is no better example than Donald Trumps election. Yet, while this is easily understood by all, far fewer people seem capable of applying this same dynamic to smaller groups.
This allows for the angriest voices in communities to be mistaken for speaking for the group. There are two distinct dangers associated with this, the first being that it becomes remarkably easy for the groups opposition to exploit. Almost without exception, for example, it was provocateurs (:inciting agents) who promoted hostilities in the Civil Rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s-70s. They exploited the groups angers and fears to divide them.
This is not to imply that all the problems within the liberal and progressive communities -- or within the Democratic Party -- are the result of outside agitators. For example, we should take note of the fact that the republicans have won three of the last five presidential elections. Consider the number of republican governors that will be running states in 2017. And the large number of elections for the House and Senate that have been lost in recent years.
In that context, is it rational to think that more victories will be achieved by further dividing the groups and individuals that might form the partys base of support in the future? Or might it be better to consider the possibility that the partys leadership has some responsibility for the failure to win elections? Those appear to be our two options: either to engage in a puritanical orgy of finger-pointing and blaming others, or else taking responsibility for our own actions an inactions. It would seem worthwhile to consider which of those two options that the partys leadership has taken since election day.
Peace,
H2O Man
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,606 posts)I can't really add anything worthwhile to your superb essay, except K&R.
Thank you!
H2O Man
(73,536 posts)democrank
(11,094 posts)Thanks once again, H20 Man.
~PEACE~
H2O Man
(73,536 posts)It's a good time for organizing. 2017 will be a hectic year.
Hekate
(90,667 posts)H2O Man
(73,536 posts)think
(11,641 posts)Last edited Fri Dec 23, 2016, 05:06 PM - Edit history (1)
Best wishes for the holidays.
May you have a good holiday season, too.
suffragette
(12,232 posts)They want input and for that to be valued.
Yet it is harder to do that in our increasingly hardened bubbles. We share information that confirms our biases and ignore or blast that which doesn't. It's a very human way of operating. Yet, I think our leaders need to be able to push past that and find ways of inclusion that still include and strengthen our basic values. And part of that is taking a clear look at once strong and now fragile coalitions.
An example of that is in my state of Washington. We're viewed as a stalwart blue state, much as Michigan and Wisconsin once were. And the higher population in our bluest areas have kept that reality in our national elections so far. Yet the cracks in that have been there for a few years now and became evident when two of our 'Democratic' State Senators went from voting with Republicans to joining them in an actual coup of our State Senate in 2012. The Democratic Party here had supported them rather than cultivating other candidates who shared values of our state platform. The Party only finally censured them and withdrew its support after those two aided in the takeover of our Senate by the Republicans.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majority_Coalition_Caucus
http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2013/02/04/gross-disloyalty-democrats-censure-tom-sheldon/
Tom and Sheldon have teamed up with 23 Republicans to form a Senate Majority Caucus, and have begun to use a 25-24 majority in the Legislatures upper chamber to overhaul workers compensation laws and pursue such goals as axing the states Family and Medical Leave Act.
In a resolution adopted by state Democrats at a weekend central committee meeting in Olympia, the party charged that Tom and Sheldon are denying the ability to pass progressive legislation to many Democratic State House members, and denying to the Governor and the voters of the State the ability to pass a budget that reflects Democratic values.
The resolution also calls on the Senate Democratic Caucus to officially and permanently expel Tom and Sheldon from the caucus. The resolution passed unanimously.
One of them is finally out now, but one still remains and the State Senate is still Republican controlled.
The State House is split almost evenly, barely in Democratic control.
Meanwhile the county of Grays Harbor, which has been voting reliably blue for decades, voted for Trump, the first time since 1928 they had voted for the Republican for President.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grays_Harbor_County,_Washington
That county is not sharing in the tech boom that's helping to fuel a decent economy in the bluer areas here. Their economy is depressed and they feel their voices aren't being heard.
This is a short article, but it's hard for me to pick out just four paragraphs to highlight. It's worth the brief full read.
http://www.king5.com/news/politics/once-democratic-grays-harbor-county-gives-trump-a-boost/346538984
We need a targeted way to address this that still moves us forward. The reality is that when we move on from older industries, people in the areas that thrived from them will lose their livelihood and communities will shift loyalties if nothing is done to replace that. We can't just leave it up to the marketplace to respond. Corporations are an entity without feelings of care or compassion. We have to be more innovative and provide solutions that take the next step forward and include the input of these communities, while assisting them in being a working part of that solution. Maybe something like a jobs program that looks to upgrading old systems to new ones, like creating needed infrastructure for newer energy and communication systems. Maybe something that I can't envision, but hope our leaders could.
I don't have the answers and I'm not sure I even expressed what I am seeing and feeling clearly enough. But I look at what is happening here and think of what happened in Wisconsin and I worry that not enough is being done at the state level to keep us from that path. And if we go in that direction, it won't help our national situation.
H2O Man
(73,536 posts)I really appreciate your contribution to this thread. There is definitely good reason to start replacing many of the elected representatives at the state and local level, as well as in DC.
suffragette
(12,232 posts)H2O Man
(73,536 posts)And a happy holiday season to you and yours!
Horse with no Name
(33,956 posts)I've been very angry....I should change that.
H2O Man
(73,536 posts)There's a wild rabbit living under my front porch. It's fun to watch her run around the lawn. Mornings when I take my dog out, she's frequently consuming whatever food he left on the ground the day before. That and the apple cores I leave out.
I also get a kick out of watching three deer that come by each morning and evening. Earlier in the week, one strolled up to some of my windows, and trimmed some of my rose bushes for me.
When I watch the field and forest community like this, I think everything will turn out good. At the same time, I know that lots of living beings who are not human beings are counting on us to use our best efforts to protect the living environment.
bhikkhu
(10,715 posts)How do you defeat your enemy? You stop listening to him.
Two simple things, anyone of any intelligence should be able to understand and practice.
H2O Man
(73,536 posts)Your post reminds me of part of Malcolm X's speeches on, "Who taught you to hate yourself?"
kgnu_fan
(3,021 posts)The very last three sentences of this story gives us a lesson we may need.
Holy Rage: Lessons from Standing Rock
By Louise Erdrich December 22, 2016
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/holy-rage-lessons-from-standing-rock
[link:http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/holy-rage-lessons-from-standing-rock|
Peace
H2O Man
(73,536 posts)I think that a primary reason for the corporate media's failure to report on Standing Rock is that the more people were exposed to the Truth being communicated there, the more they would find real leadership in their own communities.
Martin Eden
(12,864 posts)It seems that chronic anger can be exploited by an unscrupulous demagogue, which explains the success of Donald Trump.
I am not suggesting that Democrats elevate unscrupulous demagogues to leadership roles. Down that path lies madness and ruin.
While we each must confront the chronic anger within ourselves and also within our larger groups in order to develop effective strategies for moving our country forward in a positive direction, we need to understand that chronic anger will continue to be an unavoidable aspect of the political landscape. Any successful strategy must take that into consideration and have a goal to not only win elections but to lessen the endemic chronic anger by addressing the root causes of it.
H2O Man
(73,536 posts)Every tyrant knows that if he can get others to focus their hatred on some other person, they will soon forget their own low level of being.
That sentence, from one of my letters from Rubin Hurricane Carter in 1978, sums up how Trump won the election pretty well. It wasnt only the chronic anger of republicans that fueled his victory. The angers and resentments of large segments of the liberal and progressive communities definitely played a significant role.
Certainly, those who voted for Trump believe that they won. Im confident that, in a relatively short time, many of them will realize that theyve been played. Still others will ingest another dose of that chronic anger, feeding an addiction that convinces them they are on the winning team.
Some of the liberal and progressive communities are apparently still very angry. We should be patient with them as individuals. That can include conversations about the current socio-political reality. But I dont think it should include arguments.
boston bean
(36,221 posts)We see which side won.
Pitifiul, and dangerous.