Anger Management
by Joseph Rowlands
Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering.
Yoda
Yoda was a bastard. It's the only explanation. He takes young, impressionable children and twists their minds. Using parlor-tricks, gymnastics, and bad grammar, he confuses them. Then he gives them this age-old lie.
Objectivism says that emotions are instantaneous reactions to our value judgments. They're automated, subconscious processes that provide motivations to act. One consequence of this theory is that we can't really morally judge someone based solely on their emotions. We don't have direct control over these emotions, so we can't be blamed for having them. We can only judge as good or evil that which is within our ability to choose. This also means that we shouldn't feel guilty for our emotions. We can strive to correct them when they seem faulty, but we're not evil just for having them.
Yoda would have us think differently. He would have us believe that you're the evil one for feeling what you feel. He would warn you that the dark side looms right over that horizon, and if you get pissed, you're going to hell. Then he'd steal your food and break your stuff, just to test you. Methinks Yoda has an ulterior motive.
What happens if you listen to Yoda? What are the consequences of his beliefs? First, it creates unearned guilt. It says you are the one to blame for feeling the emotions. Don't try to excuse yourself by saying it was justified. That's just your wickedness showing through.
It also teaches you to repress your emotions. It's up to you not to feel those emotions. And if you do, the last thing you want to do is act on them! You may as well put a dark robe on and wear a scary mask!
And even worse, it creates injustice. Anger can be an appropriate response to the actions of others. But when anger itself is seen as wrong, attention is diverted from the real crime. If someone betrays you, and you feel hurt and angry, you ignore the real culprit, and attack yourself. And if you do show your anger, everyone else will side with the culprit, cause at least he doesn't get angry!
No, anger can be a good thing. It motivates you to act, and it keeps you focused on real problems. It's anger that allows the victimized wife to find the courage to get the hell out of the house and once and for all leave her abusive husband. It's anger that gives freedom fighters the strength and courage to fight against a repressive regime. It's anger that reminds a man why he should never trust a liar ever again.
Yoda and his ilk are not only trying to make anger a bad thing, but they're trying to make it embarrassing, too. They say that "fear leads to anger". This is very popular these days (and may have been for thousands of years). This is an attempt to make anger appear cowardly. If you're angry, it's because you don't have the self-confidence to deal with a situation.
But that's wrong. Maybe fear sometimes does lead to anger. More likely, extreme fear can cause someone to lash out in desperation, which looks a whole lot like anger. But there is no necessary connection between fear and anger. Anger can have many causes, and fear need not be involved at all.
Imagine someone is trying to irritate you. He makes annoying noises, and won't shut up. Maybe if you say "Quiet, you dolt", he would repeat exactly what you say. "Quiet, you dolt." It won't take long before you start questioning that whole Non-Initiation of Force principle, and want to bludgeon the guy. This, my friends, is anger. And it wasn't caused by fear. You didn't "fear" the noise. You didn't "fear" his deadly repeating of your words. You just hate the guy. He irritates you. He's unpleasant. He's practically begging for a beating.
The emotion anger is much maligned. People tell you it's dark and ugly. Other's say it's weak and cowardly. There are countless ways people can try to tear it down. But all of these have one effect. They switch the role of perpetrator and victim, and ensure injustice for all. So next time little green men from outer space start telling you what's right and what's wrong, tell them to go to the dark side.
Discuss this Article (33 messages)
|
