When does anger become a negative? Reflections on the Tucson Tragedy…Each one of us needs to do our part.
As I reflect on yesterday’s tragic shootings in Tucson, Arizona, I find it brings up for me many questions. How about you? Questions such as:
- Can incidents like this be prevented in the future?
- What is the true, full story of what led this young man, Jared Lee Loughner, to do what he did?
- How much was the ‘verbal political vitriol’ present in today’s world (and spread more widely/rapidly because of today’s technology, and practiced by some of today’s politicians and entertainment figures) part of the cause, if at all?
- Do we have a failed mental health and/or criminal justice system?
- How do we reconcile the issue of ‘freedom to carry guns’ with the need to provide some level of protection?
I do know this: all of us have an emotional ‘system’ if you will, that includes the tool of anger. And, if we look at the issue of evolution, it’s true that today is a time where many of us are ‘catching up’ to become more skilled in the healthy acknowledgement and expression of this important emotion. We can’t, for example, go out and punch someone for a verbal disagreement like some of our ancestors did.
I do know that common wisdom suggests that anger is a positive if it is channeled positively. But, what leads anger to become a negative? And when does anger become negative? What is the difference between healthy control of anger and unhealthy repression? Is that question even one to consider?
The bottom line is that encouraging healthy expressions of anger by individuals in today’s world, and preventing and/or early identifying individuals who need help, is vital and something we are far from expert at as a culture.
This is where it gets dicey, because, in the real world there are limits to budgets for mental health systems and there are those who get very, very ‘testy’ (ironically, again, that anger emotion) when you even try to talk about ‘limits’ on gun ownership. I get tired of people spouting that tired old dictum, ‘it’s not the guns it’s the people’. Well, let’s get real: it seems to me the problem with violence in our culture needs attention to BOTH causes of such tragedies: the sick individual AND the means they have to do damage. One of the biggest means of doing violence in this world DOES include guns (as well as other weapons). So we can’t ignore them too.
There is a point when ensuring safety OVER one’s privacy and/or individual freedom to ‘do whatever they want’ is life saving.
I saw a microcosm of the problem of how we shut (and shout) others down on this topic just this morning on the TV show ‘This Week with Christiane Amanpour’. Amanpour was facilitating a round table, which included guests such as George Will, Donna Brazile and Congressman Dick Armey. During one interchange Brazile was sharing her opinion (where I think she was suggesting that we need to ask public officials to decrease the rhetoric) and Dick Armey abruptly cut Brazile off and took over the discussion by stating that these sorts of ‘sociological’ explanations (presumably he is referring to what Brazile was trying to say before he cut her off), are not helpful and ‘the explanation lies only in the psychological’.
I think this example is indicative of leaders like Armey who aren’t able to DISCUSS the issue. Sociological causes may very well be a part of why Loughner did what he did. Either way, Armey’s ‘cutting off’ of Brazile shows his disrespect of her contribution to the discussion. His attitude, in my opinion was, ‘don’t consider her opinion, listen to me I’m the one who is right’.
Armey also exhibited his lack of understanding of mental illness and forensics by calling people like Loughner a ‘fruit cake’. I think this type of name calling is part of the problem of rhetoric using that Brazile is referring to. We may be very angry ourselves at what Loughner has done. But, name calling is not helpful to solutions.
I look forward to hearing more about what led Loughner to do what he did as well as ideas on how we can learn from this tragedy. I hope the experts can get to the bottom of this tragedy so that we can prevent something like this from happening again, at least as much as is possible.
I also want to challenge people like Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham, Glenn Beck, Ed Schultz and Lawrence O’Donnell to contribute TO the solution of violence in our culture, not add to it. Are you out there? Can you hear me?
Lastly, my heart goes out to all those impacted by the incident.