Let’s Make The Red Flags Go Off, Shall We?
I’m actually quite an angry person. I don’t mean angry as in hulking out RIGHT NOW. I mean angry, as in generally speaking. As in a basic personality trait. You know, like when you call someone debonair or intelligent or reclusive or talkative. I’m… angry.
Mostly, I don’t need “anger management” - I “manage” my anger quite well, I think, given how generally pissed I am most of the time. Sometimes I let things slip, sure - but I’d wager you thought I was mostly okay with everything.
I’m not. There is so much injustice, unfairness, and stupidity around me and in the world that I am almost always seething under the surface, although my “management” skills keep it mostly in check. I wish sometimes I could be less angry, but I think that would require blinders, or a general acceptance of everything that’s wrong. I’m too smart for blinders, and too driven for acceptance.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m HAPPY. Angry as I am, I have found things to satisfy myself with - I have discovered things in life that DON’T make me angry, and I gravitate toward them, immerse myself in them as much and as often as possible. But immersion in a joyous circumstance does not make the bad things go away.
Finally, this is not a cry for help. I’m not going on a shooting spree. Hell, I’m not likely to even raise my fist in anger (although it has almost happened a few times - my “management” restrained me adequately). I just wanted to share with you how pissed off I am in general. But yeah, if you really INSIST in helping me, you can: Don’t be stupid. Don’t tolerate injustice and unfairness. Support your fellow man - including me - and don’t be a shithead. And get angry at people who perpetuate the things that piss me off so.
OK. Enough. I’m gonna go count to ten backwards really slowly now.
I love delving into your little corner….always intriguing! And I mean that sincerely…I think having different points of view on the table is probably the most important thing to finding reasonable solutions. I have found the Occupy Wall Street movement to resonate with me at times, and then other times I hear downright stupidity. Anyway, I absolutely support their right to speak their mind.
You say you are angry about the injustice and unfairness….I understand that. I’m probably not as angry as you are about it, but I recognize it and understand your point of view.
Here’s my question…and this relates to American society for the moment, forget the rest of the world. How do you tease out REAL unfairness and injustice from a lifetime of bad decisions? And before you get into the cycle of poverty and all that, let me say I agree with that cyclical argument. But at some point you have to address what’s going on with the individual person, in their heart and soul, and how to repair that…how to fix that. I don’t know the answer, but I’m pretty sure that more generous “liberal government programs” aren’t the answer. Too often (again, not always), I think such programs enable the bad decision making to continue.
Maybe I see it up close and personal more than you by working in health care. Yes, health care is a limited point of view. But I believe it relates to the bigger picture at large (poverty). We spend an inordinate amount of money taking care of people who get taken care of, and then go back out and land back in the hospital for the same reasons…over and over and over. And I’m talking tens, and sometimes hundreds, of thousands of dollars on one single person.
People who make bad health care decisions over and over tend to make bad life decisions over and over. It often isn’t about unfairness or injustice.
On another point, when a family of four making 22K a year falls within the poverty limits, apparently someone wasn’t thinking very wisely to make child 2, 3 and 4. (For that matter, where is the rational thought that produces 4 children on most anyone’s income these days? But that’s going in a different direction..)
So, I would love to be able to help people that want to help themselves, SO, back to the original question…how do you find those people, identify them, and tease them out from the crowd of people who just don’t care, and putting it very callously, are just black holes in terms of resources?
Affectionately….