While anger can be a negative emotion we experience because of a perceived wrong (click here for source), rage can be described as an uncontrollable anger experienced for the same reason (click here for source). But because of what that uncontrollable anger can appear to offer, rage can act as a siren call to the aggrieved. Rage can seem that way because it promises power, and thus salvation, to the aggrieved who embrace it. However, as one begins to embrace rage, one either approaches the rocks of being under another person's tyranny and thus be vulnerable to being exploited or the hazards of becoming tyrants ourselves.
At this point it is important to compare and contrast the kind of wrongs that so anger us that we feel tempted to sail toward the siren call of rage. Though the rages expressed will have its similarities, there will be a significant difference in the reasons for rage. To see that difference, please compare the official video of Rage performed by Pussy Riot (click here for the video and click there for lyrics translated into English lyrics, both sites are important to access) with the response to the raid on Trump's Mar-a-lago residence (for a range of enraged responses, click here and there). The first video is in response to people having been abused by a harsh, tyrannical ruler. The latter video and webpage show an enraged response to a perceived wrong where the perception is called by a tribalism enabled sensitivity.
In the first video, we saw a heavy dosage of rage. And again, the rage felt by many in Russia because of Putin's authoritarian rule is a very understandable reaction to the circumstances. In that video, we get mindless chanting of a mantra along with delusions of grandeur by the main character.
In the second video, we see a mild case of rage. But it was enough rage to see that being enraged prohibited one from being rational. In this case, Kirk told his people to conduct the same kind of searches or raids on groups like BLM which the FBI performed on Trump. In so doing, he told his people that there would be significant differences between their searches from the search that the FBI conducted. If Kirk was rational, he would note do that. He would not do that because while Kirk wanted his people to target groups for searches simply because Kirk believed those groups were guilty, the FBI had to first present sufficient evidence for a judge to issue a search warrant. That difference alone is glaring and thus it shows how rage is adverse to being rational.
Because Trump is a leader in Kirk's and Metaxas's political-ideological tribe, rage is their response to something that was legal but challenged Trump's dignity and reputation. One of the traits of tribalism is that what is right and wrong depends on who does what to whom. And so the constant investigating of Hillary, for whom I would never vote, was kosher to the Trumpublicans while even suspecting Trump of wrongdoing becomes a severe threat to his followers.
The problem with rage is that even when rage is understandable because of the amount of suffering endured from injustices, in the end, it does not serve those who are victims. That is because rage makes us vulnerable to believing our own delusions of grandeur that our rage has now empowered us to defeat our sworn enemy. Unfortunately, all too often that power causes us to become like our enemies. Another possible outcome is that rage can be that it causes us to fall under the spell of authoritarians who are opportunists. In either case, rationality and what we prefer to think of as being humane fly out the window and are replaced by authoritarianism. And here we should note that there are two kinds of authoritarian personalities. Being vulnerable to delusions of grandeur leads one to embrace an active authoritarian role that causes one to exploit and abuse others while being vulnerable to the control of others indicates that one has embraced a passive authoritarian role (click here for an explanation of those two authoritarian personality types). The lack of self-control, along with the absence of rationality, are why rage makes us vulnerable to either form of authoritarianism.
Whether one's rage is understandable or was due to misperception because of one heightened sensitivity, there is no good end to rage. That doesn't mean that there should be no anger to the injustices suffered or that we should deny being enraged when we are. It does mean that acting out of rage does not end well. Historically speaking, those who, out of rage, lead rebellions continue the authoritarianism of the tyrants they rebelled against. Maybe those rebellious leaders showed their authoritarianism in different ways, but they still continued the authoritarian rule of those they rebelled against.
As for the followers who allow their leaders to inspire them to be enraged, they become complicit in the injustices and atrocities committed by their leaders. And so here we need to acknowledge that specific people are not our enemies as much as it is the authoritarianism they employ. Authoritarianism is our real enemy regardless of who employs it.
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