Anger … a strong, passionate emotion. Sometimes conducive as it gives loads of strength to fight for what we see as a ‘better world and society’. But also sometimes a shot into our own foot.
It is an emotion that has accompanied me as far as I can think back:
Anger at the poverty I saw, the environmental pollution happening not the least in front of my own eyes. At the politicians talking and behaving as if their own view – not dissimilar to religious views – was the only truth and would bring ‘salvation’ for all challenges our global society and our planet experiences. The unfairness of nepotism. You name it.
Anger – combined with the hope and believe that better is possible – is still what drives me today. It’s just that I have learned to tone it down. Somewhat.
In fact, in the sustainability realm I still do get angry. |
After all: it remains a fundamentally flawed world and society after all.
Funny enough, one thing I most often get angry about: extremist views.
Or maybe more accurately: similar to politicians, those representatives of view points that feel they only offer the path forward. Religiously. Campaigners on either end of the spectrum.
That is …
Those wanting to flip the system with a very singular and single pivot point and think to be owning the truth. That have a clear agenda in this way. And nothing else would do.
And those equally adamant of keeping all as it is, because it the mess we’re in is entirely OK. And for whom nothing else would do either.
Why?
Because both sides willingly sacrifice the truth – somewhere between the two extremes – for their particular world view.
The second lot is incapable of change, possibly even of evolving.
They again do get angry about the intrusiveness of demands for change. Evidently so. And in a sense, that’s what to be expected from them. After all: why would for example a family living off coal mines for generations not be allowed the anger and fear that comes with the disappearance of exactly those mines, and the loss of their ‘traditional’ life?
They may ask for a fundamental change of the present … by turning the clock backwards to ‘the good old times’.
And the first lot?
They are angry at the status quo. Rightly so, no doubt about it.
They advocate an alternative, ideal, and better system. That’s what they campaign for. Sometimes even militantly. Whatever their ideal goal is, also they advocate for radical, and fundamental change. Just that their view of the goal is opposite to the group above.
And they are equally single minded about their view being the only right view.
Interestingly enough:
Both groups live and foster their anger within the very system that creates and feeds their perceptions, their believes, their hopes, expectations, demands, aspirations, desires, fears, and joys.
The very system that lies at the origin of their view and their identification of what is clearly ‘right’ and what is clearly ‘wrong’ .
While the ‘real thing’ is somewhere in the middle. Or at least not along the typical trajectory we can think of right now in what we know.
At this point I would like to turn to a quote by Darren McGarvey, a Scottish social equality activist and commentator:
Radical fundamental change.
Darren McGarvey, from TEDx Glasgow, 13th June 2018
This is the idea that society needs to be the imagined.
A good idea. I’m sure you all agree.
But if we as people advocating for radical, fundamental change,
are not willing to submit ourselves to that process,
to at times take a break from the anger,
and put ourselves under the microscope,
then that change that we are advocating for,
is not radical, and it is not fundamental.
Only with the above in mind, and put into practice, we can revisit the question that drives many of us. In fact that drives everyone wanting to see change, however that change is supposed to look like:
What makes you angry, in your world?
Thibault Duchemin, TEDx SoMa, 20th July 2017
What makes you angry that you could spend the next 10 years of your life doing something about it?
Ask yourself that question. Let it sink.
Further learning
The following TEDx talks offer some deeper thinking on the topic of anger, its context, usefulness and challenges.
Note: mind the accent 😉
