I might sound happy this morning but I’m actually scared to walk outside of my house sometimes.
Sometimes I’m scared to log onto social media.
I’m nervous to turn on the TV.
Because I never know what kind of anger I might encounter.
Have you seen the video of the S-U-V driver who ran over several motorcyclists and then was chased down, dragged out of the car and beaten in front of his wife and 2-year-old child? That could have been any one of us driving down the street.
Or what about the teenagers who beat to death the 88-year-old veteran just a few weeks ago in Spokane?
Or the young men who shot to death the Australian baseball player in Oklahoma? And on and on.
The question is what is going on with us? Why are we so angry? Why are some Americans so angry?
Why does a minor infraction, like someone cutting you off in traffic or jumping the line in the grocery store, many times escalate into angry words, fist throwing and sometimes even death?
Why is it that when we disagree with a friend, a loved one, a public figure or a commentator; we result to nasty name calling, bashing and threats on Twitter, on Facebook and on blogs?
It’s really disgusting and it’s frightening.
So, I asked my psychologist friend, Dr. Wendy Walsh and she says it’s because of two reasons mainly:
POWERLESS: Why Are We So Angry?
was originally published on
blackamericaweb.com
Number 1: Lack of good parenting or like we used to say in the old days, lack of home training.
The doctor says parents who are either absent or who don’t actually understand what it means to be parents have fueled this behavior over the last few decades.
I have often said that just because you can have a baby, it doesn’t mean you should have one.
And it makes me wonder if we’re reaching a point where people ought be licensed to have kids, yes I said that licensed to have kids, or at the very least required to take parenting classes.
Something to think about.
And the second and very important reason the doctor tells me that we’re so angry is because, and this relates to what’s going on now in the world and Washington, because of the wealth gap in this country.
According to Forbes.com, the top 1 percent of the population control 43 percent of the wealth in America.
Most of our information is controlled by a few brands or just a few companies, the same with health care.
So feeling powerless, many of us unconsciously lash out. And that gets me to those angry people you see in Washington now, arguing with reporters, yelling at each other on TV or on the House and Senate floors.
Many of those people are upset and angry because rather than sharing the wealth, they want to keep the status quo which has served them well, their rich friends well, their supporters well and their family members well.
So, whether Americans realize it at home or not, some of these individual acts are misplaced violence. That’s the lower classes rising up in smaller bursts of anger against those with the money and power.
It’s sort of like the misplaced anger that people use when they riot or burn down their own neighborhoods after a controversial verdict or court decision. That’s why I say America is in desperate need of a psychological makeover, immersion therapy into to self and world awareness about why we act and do what we do.
And just like some parents, those leaders in DC are setting really bad examples for us. All of the gridlock, the anger and the sleight of hand over health care are only making the patient worse.
POWERLESS: Why Are We So Angry?
was originally published on
blackamericaweb.com
