Anger

Anger is an overly maligned emotion. I, here and there, see remnants of the 'New Age' religious movements and they seem to want to live in a world of fluffy inane 'love,' a world never darkened by such coarse emotions as anger. I heard the same nonsense form the 60s hippies, idiocy like John Lennon's All You Need Is Love. This in one of the arguments I have with Buddhists, at least some of them, who view anger as a base emotion.

Anger is a perfectly valid emotion. There are things in this world that you should be angry about. The way that others are often treated is inexcusable. Sometime the way you are treated justifies anger. The real problem is how we channel the energy that comes from anger.

If you are mistreated, go ahead and be angry, but, don't turn that anger into violent rage. Instead,
 use it to prod you into some positive action that will overcome the malice of those who hurt you. If you see another being mistreated, try to help them.  Sometimes, just a kind word or two to show them that they are appreciated is sufficient. Sometimes a kind deed is required and sometimes a sharp rebuke of the person who harmed them is needed. Use the anger to promote a good deed on your part.

Anger that festers into rage is counterproductive. There is certainly a lot to be angry about these days, but, consider our current political campaigns. Hillary and Donald are descending rapidly into a pit of nastiness that would embarrass a 3 year old. She, instead of making positive proposals, seems angry at Americans who don't support her, resorting to name calling and inane attacks on her opponent. Donald has backed a way from the vitriol a little but his whole campaign is now tainted by the nastiness he displayed in the primaries. Both have allowed personal anger to take them in very negative directions when it should have led them to firm up and substantiate their positive proposals for fixing the Nation's problems.

In short, anger is not the problem. It's what you do with it that counts.