On Being Angry at All the Anger

In 1976, there was a movie Network in which the lead character stuck his head out of his tenement window and shouted, “I’m mad as hell and I can’t take it anymore!” This was taken to symbolize the pent up fury in the body politic at various injustices and oppressive bureaucracies, a proper reflection of the spirit of the 1960s. Never mind for the moment that already the public was sick and tired of youth being sick and tired, and had reacted to the rage of the 1960s by electing even the reviled Richard Nixon as president. But let’s get back to the movie which at this pont got a little silly. All of the gentleman’s neighbor stuck their heads out of their windows and joined in the general anger. They apparently were mad as hell, too, and couldn’t take it any more.

We may put aside for the moment why everybody was mad as hell, and what exactly was the “it” that they couldn’t take. I was living in New York at the time where I was a professor of public law and government at Columbia University and I lived in a university apartment building very much like the setup in the movie. I asked myself at the time what I would have done if someone shouted out of the window at his neighbors. I would have called the cops and said there was a nut screaming at his neighbors. Well, no, actually, since New York City was (and is) a tolerant place, I probably would’ve ignored it if this was first offense. There were enough crazy people in the city and the best thing to do was to ignore them. They were for the most part harmless cranks walking around talking to themselves, not unlike many of the rest of us who weren’t as obviously crazy at first glance. If there was a repeated offense I might have called the University Housing Office and reported that a nut was disturbing the peace by shouting out the window. Only if the offense continued, and the university proved ineffectual, would I have called the police. Under no circumstances would other New Yorkers start shouting in unison and causing a general ruckus.

Now let’s return to what was supposedly making people angry. Was it the nasty establishment that was suppressing the urge of progressive youth to rise up and dismantle all social institutions? Or was the “it” that was causing such angst perhaps the normal rules that permitted a diverse group of people to live peaceably? I dare say that most of us are used to the fact that our business firms, schools, families, government agencies, and workplaces generally have some sort of rules, formal and informal, that make it possible for business to be conducted and for people to enjoy the benefits of a free society.

The present anger that is making everybody mad as hell is making me mad as hell. I’m mad at the left for being mad at Wall Street, the banks, big oil, big Pharma, etc. I’m mad at the right for being mad at the left. I wish everybody would stop being mad for a while and start thinking about what is wrong and what might reasonably might be done about it. Of course I will be ignored and I will certainly be mad about my being ignored about being mad at people for being mad. When this anger becomes a little less angry I will pronounce the solutions for each of our problems. I know you can hardly wait, and I will only give this small hint for now. I promise not to have more solutions than there are problems. This novel doctrine should set me apart from most of my brethren and sisteren in the blogosphere!