The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

Containing His Articles, Observations, Thoughts, Meanderings,
and some would say Wisdom (and some would say not).

I'm As Mad As Hell, And I'm Not Going To Take This Anymore!

So said Howard Beale in the movie 'Network'. And there is a lot of 'madness' in today's body politic. In my opinion, there are two types of madness being exhibited in the body politic; Madness on the Left and Madness on the Right.

Madness on the Left:

Whenever an issue or hot topic flares up into public view, you often see 'spontaneous' demonstrations that are in support of the Progressives/Leftists position. The aggrieved start marching in the street and shouting their grievances, and demanding that their policy position are implemented. They often want a rush to judgment that supports their position and silence and acquiescence of those who oppose their position. And they want it done immediately. Reasoned discussion and intelligent review of their proposed solution are not in order, and they just want their solution implemented without questioning. They want to ignore the contravening facts, the unintended social consequences, and the economic impacts of their solution; it just needs to be done 'now ' in their opinion. This has led to incivility in their words and deeds and is, therefore, damaging to "A Civil Society".

I liken this reaction to that of a small child in a store that is attracted to some item. They often grab it, demand that they can keep it, and start crying or shouting when the adult tries to take it away from them. They are attempting to bully the adult into giving into them. And so, too, are those in the madness on the left trying to bully Americans into implementing their positions.

Madness on the Right:

Whenever a group of people believes that they are being intimidated into silence or bullied into acquiescence, or their positions are being Demonized, Denigrated, or Disparaged, or they are being disenfranchised, and they become angry.

And this is what is happening to the proponents of conservative policy positions. Nobody likes to be called a Sexist, Intolerant, Xenophobic, Homophobic, Islamophobic, Racist, or Bigoted person, especially when they know that this is not true. But this is often the case when the Progressive/Leftist argues with a Conservative, and the Progressive/Leftist retort that both sides do it is not sufficient excuse as I have Chirped on "04/01/19 Both Sides Do It".

But conservatives do not engage in 'spontaneous' demonstrations that are in support of their positions. They are often too busy in their occupations, families, churches or synagogues', or communities to take time out to engage in a demonstration. They may occasionally have a large march or rally to express their opinions, but these marches and rallies are generally peaceful, orderly, and low key; that is until recently. The right has started to become more like the left in their approach to demonstrations. This is because the conservative has advanced into the third stage of anger.

Stages of Anger

When a person becomes angry, they often go through four stages:

Annoyed
Frustrated
Infuriated
Hostile

Each stage invokes a different response. When you are annoyed, you often simply mutter your annoyance to yourself. When you are frustrated, you start expressing your frustration to others. When you become infuriated, you start attending meetings, rallies, and demonstrations and vent your infuriation. When you become hostile, you start attacking others' positions and motivations and seek to Demonize, Denigrate, Disparage the opposition.

Many on the right are now in the third stage, 'Infuriated', and moving into the fourth stage of 'Hostile'. And they are not only being infuriated and hostile to the Progressive/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders but are being infuriated and hostile to the leadership of the right, who they believe are not doing enough to counter the left.

Incivility is often the symptom of this infuriation and hostility. And we have seen more and more incivility in the last few years in American society, on both the left and the right. The name-calling, the misleading or untruthful statements about another, the rude gestures, the shouting, the intolerance of other opinions, the intimidation and threats, the attempts to silence opposition, or the acquiescence of the opposition, are all symptoms of this incivility.

Conclusion

I am reminded of the end of the movie 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' when the camp doctor is observing the Japanese, British, and the American dead, and the destruction of the bridge and train, he started crying out 'Madness, Madness, Madness' to describe the scene. If we don't stop the madness on the left and the right, I am afraid that we will be viewing the death and destruction of American civil society.