On Anger

 Just had an observation. Some people use anger like a costume, a blustering external display in order to retain control, instill fear, or otherwise manipulate the perception of onlookers. They like to whip frenzies, speak whichever dog whistle phrases are most effective at sparking more in others, and generally speak in flat, opaque terms. The simplest solution to whichever problem their non-diagnosed brains find most pressing is always best to these people, and usually said answer ends with some out group reaping the net negatives of whatever broad problem they complain most about. It is a mask, and whether they genuinely understand what they are doing or not depends upon their level of intelligence.

Some people hold anger like lava in their bellies, vomiting forth from their esophagus with very little control as to its direction once it begins to flow. It is a constantly roiling, almost alive thing that hisses and snaps at the slightest provocation, but does not erupt without prior warning. Even while the surface may seem solid, the slag that forms atop the pool is merely a thin illusion that is still hundreds of degrees to the touch. Contained by one's own guts, it burns them and anyone they come in contact with if too many stimuli shake them. They just want peace, but the world will not let it come.

When these two meet, we find ourselves in the situations that we are in today. The world is being run by a bunch of blusterers who have systems full of sociopaths murdering us every day in myriad ways. Wars waged by inaccurate and soulless AI, destitute people left to the wolves as government services get cut, government tariffs stealing more money out of everyone's pockets as we all struggle to figure out what is next...we are the lava swallowers. We eat the fire we are given and try to survive on it, but we are left with the anger of the struggle. It is a slow thing, a digested anger that we believe we have processed, but have not. 

Our anger is meeting the bluster of several empty, costumed bullies and making their façades collapse. They are sociopaths underneath and we see it. Keep fighting. Control the lava flow as best you can. Keep it legal, keep it decentralized, keep going.

-∅