Re: Plethora of hotfooting

Malcolm Lawrence (malcolm@wolfenet.com)
Thu, 30 Oct 1997 14:37:56 -0800 

Lagusta Pauline Yearwood wrote:

> i couldn't disagree more. where do you think anger comes from?
> sensitivity. holden's angry a lot of the time.

Yet Holden tells his tale right after his anger has gone supernova and he's in an
asylum because it's consumed him. And what's the first thing he starts to do? Get
melancholic and start missing everyone.

> sad is...just sad.

Sad is reflection and introspection just like zen.

> anger
> makes you get off your bottom and go do something.

Agreed. It can. But if you're just angry and don't use it then you're a sad case.
Anger can be a very energizing part of the personality, but if it's the be all and
end all of who you are it can be pretty shallow. There are as many angry young
women now as there used to be angry young men forty years ago. And much like the
guys who came before them they know that they have a right to be angry so they are.
But most of them don't actually know why they're angry. They just know they're
supposed to be angry. Press them on their motivations for being angry and they
disappear into their own generalizing "society sucks" placards. Okay, given. News
Flash: Society sucks. But what are you going to do about it besides be angry?

> sad sits at home and writes bad poetry.

angry stands at a pedestal and spouts bad slogans

> angry writes the stuff that organizes the masses for
> real change.

Now you've got me curious. Which masses are you trying to organize and for what
change?

> my anger is probably my favorite quality, i never want to
> lose it. carefully directed, it's my most valuable weapon.

Anger is not a weapon, it's a catalyst. This is the difference between a true
subversive and your garden variety terrorist.

> ok, another ani quote:
>
> "if you're not angry,
> then you're just stupid or you don't care
> how else can you react
> when you see something so unfair
> that the men of the hour
> can kill half the world in war
> or make them slaves to a superpower
> and let then die poor..."
>
> damn straight.

Damn knee jerk simplistic, not to mention damn sexist too, and painted with such
broad strokes. Ever heard of Margaret Thatcher? To name just one.And a Bob Dylan
quote in return:

               As some warn victory, some downfall
               Private reasons great or small
               Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
               To make all that should be killed to crawl
               While others say don't hate nothing at all
               Except hatred.


> oh no oh **no**. maybe these angry singers let the "little girls and
> little boys" know that it's okay to be angry, that they can use their
> anger.

Agreed. Anger is an energy, but there's nothing more embarrassing than someone who
is simply angry for the sake of being angry because anger is "cool."

> i don't know why i'm going so off on this. i guess because i think anger
> is just so amazing.

But not a fraction as amazing as tenderness.

> it doesn't need to involve blame, or shame or violence
> or anything. i know i couldn't be so happy if i wasn't so angry some of
> the time. make sense? i think i can only realize how achingly beautiful
> everything can be when i've also seen how heartbreaching terrible it can
> be, and faught against that side.
>

Well, yes, all is balance. That is the only real tao.

> > In a lot of ways, Sinead O'Connor is still the mother of that whole lot. When
> > she was angry she could have eaten any of those other sistahs for lunch. And
> > when her anger finally burned out and supernovaed and she got sad, she's the
> > only one who you'd want to sing you to sleep.
>
> ahhhhh!!! but who wants to be sung to sleep?? i'd rather be out there,
> wide eyed, screaming about everything.

Enjoy it while you're still in your 20s. I know I did. Hormones are a wonderful
thing.

> ok, i know you're thinking literally, and i'm interpreting it metaphorically
> (sleep)

Oh sleep is a wonderful thing (that thing that one does with a blanket and a
pillow). You'll appreciate it more the older you get.

> , but, gosh. i
> don't think the point was to eat those other sistas (not that you said it
> was),

Well I didn't think the point was that this female singer was any better than that
female singer. I mean, you'd think that since there has never been a matriarchal
society that you'd get the idea that females know better than to get into any
hierarchical arguments about which female is better than another female. My point
was that Sinead has consistently risked her popularity for the sake of what she
believes in. Name another female singer who would tear up a picture of the Pope on
nationwide television. (Five years ago, that is. It wouldn't be subversive at all
to do it now, still, I don't think anyone else has the guts now anyway.)

> i think the point was just that she didn't like the way the world is
> and sung about it. and i don't think anger burns out and becomes sadness. i think
> they can
> and do exist at the same time, i think it's possibly the other way around:
> you get sad about something then wise up and get angry and fix it.

Anger is not a cure all. Just because you're angry that doesn't imply you're going
to be able to fix something. It just means that you're going to be more vocal about
it.

> there's my i'm-going-crazy-writing-all-these-papers rant.

Oh, so that's why you're angry. :)

Peace,

Malcolm