1.0
- Introduction
Anger, rage, bitterness; these are all
sentiments that we experience regularly. During different periods of
time we may be even consumed by these emotions to the point where these
dictate our actions and push our behaviour into realms that decieve our
principles and go beyond any rational actions that we would normally
exhibit. And yet these emotions are part of what make us "human", as
such these have there places in our lives and must be dealt with. In
this essay I wish to take a look from within at these and attempt to
understand and address how to deal with these emotions.
2.0 -The Good of Rage - Motivation and
the Inherent Challenge of Being Human
I do believe these sentiments have a
positive aspect to them. They move us forward as human beings beyond
pure complacency for example. They can motivate us to take action on
things that can help alleviate difficult and emotional situations. As
we all realize this is only healthy to a certain degree. Whenever the
anger becomes an obsession it appears to be a progressive breakdown of
ones rationale and other emotions such as the desire for vengence,
despair and heartache inevitably seem to take hold. In these conditions
one is felt prisoner to this condition and as such the only thing that
then matters is to be freed of this condition. The pain is such that
freedom in most cases does not suffice, and there is the need of
assurance that the perpatrator of this condition be removed so that
this can not repeat itself. Here is where in effect vendetta is seen as
the true solution to the resolution of the condition.
This type of obsession also seems to have
some commonality with love affairs that either go wrong or are
unsadisfied. In these cases the emotional pain and the obsessive nature
of this condition is what brings on anger and bitterness.
This type of obsessive condition again,
represents a great challenge in that the individual will loose a clear
perception of reality, will not be able to utilize rational logic to
resolve the situation and perhaps more importantly, will not settle for
anything less then an uncompromised, deterministic change in the
situation that conforms to his idea of what is just.
When anger is controlled on the other
hand, (perhaps as one would do as an actor) this can be an e
inspirational and adrenaline generating situation, which can push the
individual to perform tasks and deeds that would normally be beyond
their normal abilities. This can be considered healthy anger and can
perhaps be thought of as an extention of the individuals own will. It
can become the motivation that makes the individual evolve and move
towards a better self. An example may be, the anger of failing an exam
at school. The reaction may be a healthy one in that the upset will
push the individual to devote more energy to their studies and thus to
subsequently do better. This additional discipline may move the
individual to greater things in that he is being pushed to the limit of
their ability. Inspiring and pushing individuals beyond their current
capability seems to be a key factor in human growth and learning and I
believe it is safe to say that this is a characteristic of most
societies that have exhibited growth and cultural advancement. The
societies that lived in quiet contentment seem to have little or no
impact on the evolution of our civilization. This may be deemed as a
negitive but I believe that this is the theme for some further research
and perhaps another essay.
The Bad of Rage - Self distruction,
Being Used to Disseminate more Rage (De-humanization of the individual)
As mentioned earlier anger is a common
thing that we all feel on a most regular basis and while we can still
feel this and utilize this to motivate us and take actions that can
resolve or at least keep the level of bitterness to a tolerable level;
the level of anger that one may experience can completely change the
course of ones existence, deviating all energies from what previously
was deemed of highest value towards efforts to what in effect is
whatever can be done to dowse the pain caused by this anger. Once
consumed by anger their can be no escape but to acknowledge that this
energy will drive a good deal of the actions that an individual will
undertake. The logic and rational behind these actions may result in
desperate actions that when judged externally can easily be interpreted
as irrational and even to a level of insanity.
When a human being loses focus on their
own purpose in this condition, I would venture to say that he has lost
a portion of their own identity. The actions that result when reaching
beyond anger and into the realm of obsession and rage are not deeds of
good will and or creativity but usually acts of hatred that are
destructive in nature. I believe this process is one of de-humanization
of the individual. This process will obscure a persons principles and
create deviations of logic that the ego will elaborate on to protect
itself, but in essence one has compromised their own individuality and
is in effect posessed by emotions and energies that can be thought of
as alien to themselves. Some examples of this can be the destructive
acts performed by individuals in the name of a religion. When one
studies the teaching of these religions there is no trace of violence
or distruction being advocated, yet historical and on-going events
testify to the murderous distructiveness that religious zealots have
and continue to perpetrate.
3.0-Some Examples of Rage in History -
Great Leaders - Is this Humanity as We Want it?
This sub-topic really warrants some
profound research and study. Given that measures of anger, rage and
bitterness can only be judged by actions and events that are
historically recorded rather than from direct recounts of those who
lived these events, any conclusions that one may draw must be taken as
an interpretation of those facts and therefore not an absolute truth.
Having said that for now I will simply list some occurances and perhaps
leave it to the reader to think through based what they know or what
they are willing to investigate, leaving myself the to do to research
these in depth at a later time. The order in which these are listed are
not relative to importance and or priority.
The crucifiction of Christ - Although Jesus professed goodness he also aroused
political unrest. Although he possessed no real political power his
influence on people made him a powerful and contraversial figure which
was challanged and feared. I am not sure how a people could come to
wish for Christs' death, but the powers at be managed to elicit the
anger of the people to the point where the people themselves gave out
the sentence.
Although the paragraph above was written
without any prior research this interpretation seems accurate given the
facts as documented at these web sites:
http://www.bushywood.com/pontius_pilate_roman_procurator.htm
http://www.themoorings.org/apologetics/69weeks/weeks5.html
The US Civil War -
Casualties for all US Wars:
http://www.cwc.lsu.edu/cwc/other/stats/warcost.htm
Once again some research here. I have
recently seen a movie (can't recall the name) and from this one can see
the absurd and out of control hatred that d
http://pages.prodigy.net/krtq73aa/civil.htm
Here is an excerpt much in line with
the thinking of this essay..
While President
Lincoln--before his assassination in the last days of the
War--counselled reconciliation and a toleration for diversity; and the
Union Commanding General, Ulysses S. Grant, displayed a profound
respect for General Robert E. Lee and his men, refusing to accept the
surrender of their personal weapons and horses at Appomattox; Congress
in 1865 fell under the control of hate crazed zealots; men who wanted
to punish the Southern States for daring to leave--and for political
advantage. And in the next few years, the gathering storm of hatred
that had led to disunion and war was exceeded by the vengeful hatred of
those who had anointed themselves to put the Union back together. Yet
hate begets hate, as ill will, malice. And the harvest of
Reconstructive vengeance was three generations of sectional bitterness
and hostility.
One will find that reading the above is a
very interesting prospectus on many issues that are at the root of the
state of affairs today in the US. It shows the conservative point of
view and was written during the Clinton years. It is very interesting
and has enlightened me on some of these views which until now was not
fully cognescent of. I have yet to digest this information but this is
more food for thought and research!.
Going back the the topic.. the paper above
does capture some of the emotional aspects behind what occured.
Here is a good page showing casualty
statistics:
Per Battle:
http://americancivilwar.com/cwstats.html
Civil War history by date:
http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/
Is there a second civil war in the works?
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/dp20031014.shtml
The Russion Revolution -
"Ethnic Cleansing" Throughout History
- The Christian Crusades
- Hitlers Germany
- Kosovo
- T
- Ruanda?
WWII
- Hitlers Germany
- Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor
- The cold war
4.0- Individualism? Protecting our
Inherent Right to Be Our Own Person -
The topic of individualism is perhaps a
subject for a complete other essay, but in the contexxt of this topic I
would like to submit it's relevance. While anger is a personal matter
it is also possible to share these sentiments with other individuals.
Of course each one will exprerience this in their own way and will
react differently, however it is clear that masses individuals sharing
a common set of values maybe enraged and work together for the
resolution of this anger. Although this may seem obvious I believe it
is important in the context of what this essay brings forth in terms of
the definition of rage and anger, its effects on the individual and
their capability to act in a rational manner. If an enraged individual
will loose perspective of reality and act in a destructive manner,
masses of enraged individuals that share the same anger and need for
resolution can only create exponentially worse results. Historically,
masses of people that are enraged have chosen leaders to guide them to
the liberation of their pain. At times these individuals may have
instigated and even fabricated the pretext for this anger for personal
gains, while other times these leaders only scope was to help alleviate
the pain caused by injustice or other enraging situations.
5.0 - Me and Anger
Control and Domination of Anger -
Working Towards Maintaining Sanity and Contributing to Human Evolution
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A look at different aspects, Anger,
Bitterness, Rage |