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.

The Problem Isn't Capitalism, It's Our Society

People often rant against the evils of capitalism … exploitation of workers, people in general, and the environment.  But the problem is not so much capitalism as the social structure in which capitalism has operated. 

In the United States. the structure has been one which exalted individualism and correspondingly had a laissez faire attitude towards business.  It was a conservative social context in which each person was pretty much out on their own.

It was only after the turn of the 20th century, when the excesses of the industrial robber barons became egregious to society, and during the Depression, when capitalism clearly failed to provide for the people, that the government stepped in.  It regulated private enterprise, became an employer of last resort through efforts such as the CCC and WPA that produced lasting accomplishments, and provided various forms of assistance to those in need.  

Those actions indicated a partial change in the social context … what’s been termed the progressive movement … into one where it was felt that government had to play a role to stop the excesses of private enterprise, to level the playing field between employer and worker as well as between producer and consumer, and to help those in need.  All for the common good, in keeping with the Declaration of Independence's dictum that all people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We still had a capitalist system.  But now there was an overlay of government regulation and action because it was realized that the profit motivation that lies behind all actions in a capitalist system would frequently not operate to protect the common good, meaning the wellbeing of all in society.   It is worth noting that corporations are a creature of the law and are granted their license because of the benefit that society as a whole should derive from their operation, not just for the accumulation of wealth by their owners.

In the years since the Reagan administration, however, the progressive movement has receded and the individualistic, laissez faire society has come to the fore again.  Most recently we have seen the Radical Right push to dismantle most of what the bipartisan progressive movement built to improve our society over the previous 100 years.

But even at its broadest expanse, the progressive movement was not all-inclusive.  We were never a community, except perhaps for a brief period during the Depression.  The difference between a communal society and an individualistic society is that in the former, every person has a role to play and every person is valued.  No matter how simple or mindless their role.  And if someone cannot play a role due to physical or mental infirmity, they are still valued as human beings who are part of the community.

Conservatives used to point almost with glee to the failure of Communist systems, not just economically, but especially as relates to the abuse of their own citizens.  But this is just further confirmation of the point made initially in this post, that it is not the economic system but the social structure that determines whether people and the environment are valued.

The experience of both the Soviet Union and China show, for example, that although ownership and the political/social structure changed dramatically, one elite just replaced another.  While the Soviet Union did in a limited sense live up to its Communist underpinning and provided for all the people, in both countries the political/social structure valued neither people nor the environment; both were exploited, just for a different end … not profit but state power.  Not surprisingly, the introduction of socialist capitalism in China hasn’t changed that.

In our society, and in every country around the world - for there are no communal countries - there are millions of people who are not valued.  Who do not have a place at the table.  And even most of those who are at the table, who help produce the product and are paid for their work, are not valued in any humane sense of the word.  They are just viewed as expendable cogs in the machine.

In short, we live in a society in which, while people may rant about the value of life in certain contexts … abortion, death with dignity, when human action collides with God-given directives …  they really place no value on life.  They have no concern or feelings of responsibility for the welfare, the quality of life, of their fellow citizen.   There is no sense of community.  The social contract is in tatters.

The problem of poverty and homelessness in the US is not due to a lack of resources.  The problem of racism and other discrimination is not one that is inherent in man.  The social problems we face are a direct result of the social system we have built.  And thus the answer to our social problems lies in rebuilding or redirecting our social system and reinforcing the role of government in advancing the common good.

I’m not talking about a utopia.  I’m just talking about a society that is humane, that values the life of everyone who is a member of the society … at a minimum everyone who is a citizen, but ideally everyone who lives here regardless of their status.  And finds a way to implement that humaneness by making everyone feel valued rather than feel like refuse, whether it’s through the educational system, housing, social services, whatever.  

Capitalism and a humane society can coexist and support each other.  They are not mutually exclusive.  But it implies capitalism with a social conscience, not unbridled capitalism such as was evidenced recently by several in-name-only pharmaceutical companies that bought existing low cost name drugs and then raised the price dramatically to an exorbitant amount, endangering people's lives.  It implies capitalism where maximizing profit is not the sole operating goal.

Bottom line, everyone … child and adult … deserves to feel like they are a human being and are valued and respected by others, whether it’s immediate family, peers, or the broader society.  So many people are broken because they have had life experiences that do not make them feel valued and respected.   And so they come not to respect or value themselves.  That not only harms them, it harms society; it is a drag on society.

This is a failure of society.  And only society can fix it.

What Has Man Wrought?

Throughout the ages, man in “civilized” societies has felt that he is superior to all other elements on this planet.  Man to put it mildly has been very full of himself when it comes to his place in the scheme of things.  Western man (which is to say followers of the Judeo-Christian tradition) even saw himself as being made in God’s image.

After all the millenia of hype, the question must be asked, has the advent of man on this planet been of benefit, either to the other elements of the planet or even to man?  What has man wrought?

Before the advent of civilized societies, the natural world functioned in a very symbiotic and pure fashion. There was nothing is this world that was despoiled.  Primitive man, up to and including the Native American Indians, had great respect for all the natural elements and lived in total harmony with them.

With the advent of civilized societies (at least Western ones; I cannot speak to the other early civilizations), and certainly since the industrial revolution, man has despoiled the environment, to a greater extent with each passing year.  “Progress” for mankind has meant degradation or extinction of the natural environment.

And what of man’s benefit to man?  At a minimum, that depends on which side of the power divide you’re standing.  

Some examples.  Starting with the growth of ancient civilizations, the powerful often dominated those they conquered by making them slaves.  Slavery as a business proposition had (and in some parts of the world still has) a long tradition that began before the start of carrying slaves to the new world.  Under the guise of “the white man’s burden” and “spreading God’s word,” European nations plundered and destroyed native civilizations around the world.  In our own country, the American government practiced what can only be called genocide against the Native American Indian.  Certainly, if man was benefiting man, it was only the strong benefiting themselves.

“O.K.,” you may say,  “all of this is true but look at the incredible progress that man has brought to mankind.”  Man has always touted the concept of progress, of an ever-improving life with each technological innovation.  Remember G.E.’s slogan, “Progress is Our Most Important Product” or DuPont’s, “Better Living Through Chemistry”?  The slogans are gone, but contemporary marketing makes the same case through manipulative images and ad copy.

There is no question that man is better off materialistically than he was in the past.  But is he happier?  Is he better off spiritually than he was hundreds of years ago?  I would argue that the answer is probably, “no.”  As he moved from the land to the city, man lost his connection to the land, his feeling of belonging and purpose.  He lost his roots and it has been getting worse with each generation.  Life may have been very hard, but there was a spirituality (not religiosity) to man’s life which provided a feeling of self-worth and an innocent happiness.  

Modern man, whether living in a major city or in the country, is totally a creature of modern culture.  He is manipulated as to what he thinks, what he wants, what he buys.  Whether it’s politics or business, it’s all about marketing, selling.  And because of our culture of competition and consumerism, we are manipulated to always want more and not be satisfied with what we have and who we are.  We have lots of stuff, but also lots of debt.  It is a system which fosters frustration, dissatisfaction, and depression.  

This is not to say that man (and of course in using this term I am including women and children) did not suffer from depression and frustration in earlier years.  But the breadth and depth of it in contemporary life is far greater.

Finally, there is the question of whether man has even benefited those closest to him ... his immediate family.  I cannot say what family life was like in ancient times.  But as man moved from primitive communal societies to “civilized” societies of a non-communal and later capitalist nature, man became an insecure animal, left to his own devises to fend for himself.  

As I argue in my book, Raising a Happy Child, insecure people raise insecure children and the cycle is never ending.  Thus we find ourselves today in a world filled with insecure people.  Regardless how powerful or rich someone may be, deep down that person is typically very insecure.  And whether in the family or at work, insecure people cannot develop strong, healthy relationships.  Certainly not ones based on unconditional love and trust.  Their insecurity has a powerful impact on how they view themselves and the world around them.  That is why our world is so dysfunctional, whether you look at family relationships, the political landscape, or the relationships between nations.

And so, the answer to what has man wrought is much degradation and misery.  We seem to be an evolutionary experiment gone awry.  Although we have advanced in many ways over the millenia, our brains (as opposed to our knowledge) have not advanced or evolved.  We are still functioning with a brain that nature developed for primitive man 150,000 years ago.  And that brain is not equipped to handle the changes that have occurred in human society over those years.  Our ability to think has unfortunately not made us better human beings.

Is there a way out?  A better way?  Yes.  In my book, Raising a Happy Child, as well as my various Buddhist books, I try to present a cohesive, positive answer for my fellow man.

Income Inequality Per Se Is Not the Problem

In an ideal world, at least in my mind, you would not have the extremes of rich and poor.  But people have different intelligence levels, different talents, and different aptitudes which, even with all other things being equal, would translate themselves in the real world to significant disparities in earning opportunities.  Add to that that all other things have never been equal and we have the situation in which rich and poor have always been a part of human existence and it will likely always remain so.  But that fact in and of itself is not the problem.

The problem is how the rich, or I should say the very rich, the top 1%, got there and are increasing their share of the economic pie at the expense of the rest of us.  It’s a classic case of exploiting those less powerful to make your own fortune.

“Oh come off it,” you  may well say.  “That’s a bit extreme.  A leftist diatribe.”  Alright, it may be, but lets see what the facts show.

The very rich, or those they inherited their money from, get there typically through a combination of two things.   First, they engage in an enterprise which in one of various ways exploits, which is to say unfairly takes advantage of, others for their own personal benefit.  (This does not gainsay the innovative value or quality of the product or the management excellence of the enterprise.)  Second, they influence Congress to slant the tax laws in a way which benefits themselves at the expense of everyone else.  

The first point is understood by anyone with an open mind as examples are everywhere.  Whether one looks at the classic robber barons of the early industrial revolution (and most corporate CEOs today) or the masters of finance who orchestrated the toxic investment instruments that resulted in the 2008 market crash, the very rich have achieved their wealth and power by exploiting others, whether it’s their workers or whether it’s investors (yes, they even prey upon their own clients) or whether it’s gullible people looking to buy a home. 

“How can you say that workers are exploited?” you may ask. “They have their contracts and if there’s a union, collective bargaining.”  Decades ago, when industrial jobs were plentiful and unions were strong, your point would be well-taken.  And in that era, the disparity between CEO compensation and worker compensation, although large, was far narrower than today.  Blue collar workers were solidly middle class, except in the South where there typically were no unions and workers were exploited.  

In today’s global economy, workers have no power, even if there is a union, because the job market is so bad and the owners have the practical opportunity in many cases to close and open up business in a lower-cost foreign country.  And so workers are taken advantage of because management and stockholders have only one concern ... improving the bottom line.  If the choice is between maximizing profits and giving the workers a higher wage, the choice will always be to maximize profits.  

As a result, workers’ wages have stagnated over the past few decades and if their jobs have gone and they’ve found other employment their wages have typically fallen.  In both cases, the working class has been left ever poorer, just treading water above poverty, as costs continue to rise.   While the CEOs and management keep getting richer.

But it is in the impact of the tax laws which have been passed to enable the rich to become richer (supposedly to grow the economy through increased investment and the “trickle down” effect, although that’s been shown to be nonexistent; the economy has not exploded in growth as we were promised) that the hidden and less known harm of income inequality has been felt.  The reason is quite straight-forward.  Lower taxes = less revenue for the government.

Because the tax breaks that the very rich and their corporations receive have greatly reduced tax revenues (15.8% of GDP in 2012, the lowest since 1950, compared with the high of 20.6% in 2000), there is less money available for government, whether federal, state or local, to accomplish their responsibility.  That responsibility as stated in the Declaration of Independence is to “secure the rights” of all people to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.   

Government has for much of the 20th century tried to meet that responsibility and ensure the general welfare through programs that provide quality education for all, support for the poor, a sound infrastructure, and all the basic services that government needs to provide and pay for in order for the country and individual communities to functions effectively and efficiently and thrive.  

But with significantly reduced tax revenues, all levels of government are finding it necessary to reduce services and quality in almost every area of government activity (and no, the problem is not principally the recession but tax cuts for the rich and corporations as well as the holy cow of military spending).  This has not only resulted in exacerbating the impact of the recession, increasing the abjectness of those already living in poverty and throwing more people and families into poverty.  Through cuts in services, it is making the already disappointing experience of many of our citizens in the areas of education, health, income inequality, social mobility, and equal opportunity (see my post, “American Exceptionalism - A Myth Exploded”) even more dismal.

It is no crime to be rich and successful.  But to be rich and successful at the expense of others, especially those with less power, is a social crime.  And it is a violation of the American social contract under which we all as citizens share responsibility for government’s efforts to promote the general welfare, each contributing according to his means, which unfortunately is more violated today than honored.  

America has enough wealth to ensure that those who are poor, and everyone else for that matter, have access to good health, education, and housing and do not go hungry.  America has enough wealth to insure that the infrastructure on which our viability depends remains strong and world-class.  And still allow people to be quite rich.

If America continues on this path where the rich feel entitled to more and more and where they have no concern and feel no responsibility towards their fellow citizens, let alone employees, then America’s greatness will become a thing of the past.  Not because China or some other country vaults into first place as the largest economy in the world.  But because America will have failed its own people, its own heritage, its own promise.