Front pager Akadjian’s America is Angry diary sparked wonderful discussion regarding Americans’ anger. Collectively Kossak’s spoke to American’s emotional responses to income inequality, racial injustice, and sheer hypocrisy. Unfortunately, it cheapened those stories by restricting the response.
Today’s discussion relied on Anger’s modern definition. Currently English speakers explain anger as hostility, displeasure, or belligerence . But Old Anger used it to describe pain, grief, or sickness.Yep, we reduced our primal fears to an emotional reflex.
Like any other reflex, anger provides a quick burst. Short-term it overcomes obstacles. Long-term it corrodes. Brits use it to mean "inflame another person,” which I view as more accurate. Why? The actor inflicts an emotional response on the object, rendering it ash.
If we listen to Americans’ grief, we obligate ourselves to fix it. We can't erase the prior pain, but we can acknowledge it. We can't indulge revenge by destroying property or killing someone. We can fight for better paying jobs, accessible healthcare, and lifelong educational opportunities. We can admit we need help and then listen to our audience. Will our promises and hard work fix things overnight? Of course not, but who among us ever quickly recovered from grief?
I trust Hillary and Kaine to hear all voices, listen as well as talk, and offer locally driven solutions. Why? This “works” and what “works” drives Hillary and Kaine. Despite their willingness to perform public service, neither lacks ambition nor drive. Implementing more widespread social equality and economic opportunity will fund their psyche “cash out.”
Channeling grief into a shared destiny always beats impotent anger, in my not so humble opinion.