Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Understanding Rage and Bringing Us Back from the Brink


Many people would look at the phrase “understanding rage” as an oxymoron.  To them rage is irrational.  It’s craziness.   And because it’s not a rational state, it cannot be understood, that is, there is no rational explanation.  

It’s true that there is no reasoning with rage.  The rational forces of democracy are not only helpless to hold it in check, the democratic process gives rage the opportunity to assume the ascendancy and control.

But while the emotion of rage is irrational and there is no reasoning with it, the experiences that trigger rage are very rational.   Those experiences can be countered with reasoning if combined with heartfelt mea culpas and action that counters the rational source of the rage.

What is behind rage?  Whether one looks at the white formerly middle-class now unemployed/underemployed worker or people of color, regardless of whether the country is the U.S., Great Britain or France, the cause of rage is exploitation.  People either feel that they have not been given a chance to get what they deserve or have been promised, or they feel that they have lost what they rightfully had.  In either case, an economic or political force is blamed as the exploiter.  

To some extent people in general feel used and abused, regardless of their color or status in life.  One could probably safely say that 90 - 95% of people in the U.S. feel exploited in some way.  Even those who are doing well often feel exploited by a boss or a colleague.  In a very important way, while circumstances among people vary greatly, most of us are all in the same boat … we just don’t know it.  We all want to be respected, but respect is a very scarce commodity.

Liberals often ask, “Why are people so devoted to Donald Trump; what has he done for them?  Don't they see what he is?”  They do not understand the economic plight of the white middle working class over the past 40 years.  They do not understand that while having heard political platitudes for years about helping the middle class the Democrats have not helped their plight at all.  These workers and their families felt they were shown no respect.  Liberals do not understand how neglected and exploited they feel and so when Trump came along and spoke to them, when he offered scapegoats for their problems, when he took up their cause with gusto, they responded to him with amazing fervor.

This is just one example. It’s only relatively recently that we have come to understand the submerged rage that many women feel.  And many still don’t understand why so many Blacks have simmering rage; if you don’t understand that, you need a reality check.  

So given this understanding of rage, how do we move forward?  How does the U.S. and the world come back from the violent, chaotic brink that we seem to be standing on?  The past is past.  We can’t change it.  However, every society/group can and must clearly acknowledge the past and be heartfelt in their mea culpas.  For issues as deep as race, some truth and reconciliation process, such as was conducted in South Africa after apartheid, is necessary.

But it cannot stop there.  Words or laws will not suffice.  The injury lies far too deep.  There must be palpable action that reverses past decades or in the case of Blacks centuries of indifference, discrimination, and exploitation.  What form that action takes will vary for each group or situation.  But until the white middle class, Blacks, Muslims, and all people feel that they are respected and treated as equals, there will be no peace.

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