Rage

"House of Anger" an opinionator piece by Timothy Egan (3/25/10) looks at the outpouring of venom directed at those who had the audacity to pass health care reform. Not only the lunatic fringe participated in this call to arms.but those who should know better showed little control and no remorse for stoking the fires.

In an era where we are inundated with blogs, television programs and radio pundits who have seeming unfettered ability to put forth opinions unchallenged, there is little to stop the course of destruction. Restraint in word, and corresponding restraint in deed, seem like relics of a by-gone era. 24 hours a day there is ample opportunity to be outraged, encouraged to rebel, and directed to the worst part of your being.

For those who are looking for someone to provide a rationale, a cause, a justification, there are many who answer their call. No one, and nothing, stands between them and their rage.

We no longer talk to one another. We talk at one another. We talk over one another. But we no longer listen. We no longer learn. We no longer care what you have to say, because we have heard, we have read, and we have learned in unqualified terms that you are wrong.

Maybe this is the downside of advances in technology. Unlimited access to confirmation of whatever you wish to believe is just a click away. We have become a society divided, from the top to the bottom. It is ugly and unpleasant, and one hopes but a temporary aberration. But I do not see better days on the horizon.