Journal of the mental environment
“Towards what kind of future are we being led by savage, fanatical capitalism?”
Call it wrath if you like,
or righteous anger.
Rage is good.
When it wells up from deep inside you, it is immediate, compelling, real. It is the only emotion strong enough to start a war – or stop one. Rage can change laws, take down corporations and topple governments.
Rage drives revolutions.
In the sixties, black America raised its fist and refused to take any more abuse from white society. In the seventies, women turned the age-old masculine order on its head. In the eighties, environmentalists mobilized en masse against the death of nature. But what about today? What is this generation up to? Is there any fire burning inside their guts?
At the Battle in Seattle, I asked people, “Why are you here?”
The answers ranged from Buddhist homilies to anarchist rants. But one man said something I’ll never forget: “Ever since I was a baby, crawling around the TV, I’ve been lied to. I’ve been propagandized. I’ve been told all my life that I’ll be happy if I buy stuff and worship the cool. Now I feel diminished, warped. I’m a pale version of what I could have been. I’ve been mindfucked. And now it’s payback time.”
Three generations have now been raised not as a part of the natural world – like the 30,000 generations before – but in a synthetic reality. A reality defined by advertising, media and consumer-driven culture. These generations have been hyped, suckered, aroused, thrilled – their fears, needs and desires manipulated in the most grotesque ways. Capitalist hype is the music of their anxiety, the gray noise of their depression, the muzak of their despair.
Now, finally, a rage is beginning to stir deep within. And out of this discordant rage, the movement of our information age will be born.
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Choose to be socially aware, and not forget all of the insane and brutal injustices our world hashes out. From chid labor to child sex trafficking, seriously, can any one sit back and let the generations from here on out get destroyed by our politicians and rich fucks gluttony.
It's our fault, America plead for forgiveness for what you've done to the world, look at us, fat pigs, who have capitalized on anything enjoyable. Therefore, we have watered down all things that should be pure and passionate. Sex, Violence, Purity, Religion, Faith and Children. WAKE UP ASSHOLES...
The movie ran through me
The glamour subdue me
The tabloid untie me
I'm empty please fill me
Mister anchor assure me
That Baghdad is burning
Your voice it is so soothing
That cunning mantra of killing
I need you my witness
To dress this up so bloodless
To numb me and purge me now
Of thoughts of blaming you
Yes the car is our wheelchair
My witness your coughing
Oily silence mocks the legless
Ones who travel now in coffins
On the corner
The jury's sleepless
We found your weakness
And it's right outside our door
Now testify
~Rage Against the Machine, Testify (1999)
Please beware of the cyclic nature of violence. I feel that If we keep on churning in and on top of each other with power struggles then we are stuck in a constant state of the "human condition". The only view I can have that keeps me motivated is that this interrelatedness, this fact that all our fates are one, and in this that our collective consciousness is growing and will blossom into something greater. The only way I can see this happening is through love and compassion for all, including our enemies. It isn't about eliminating the competition Hitler tried that and it didn't work, we must live the higher existence and have faith that it will be seen as higher by those who are in the wrong.
Let the Rage inspire, but don't let it drive. Rage is not fuel for distance, nor a suitable navigator. But it is a spark plug that can cause change.
now that is what I am talking about. That beats the hell out of coffe first thing in the morning. I love you Kalle. I'm a 27 year old guy who has been a sporatically dedicated reader, and you know just what to say when I need you. Now ets go have some fun. Time to fight the tide in Philly
Don't mistake passion with rage - one creates beauty, the other destroys it.
rage is bad...just ask any martial artist
it makes you make mistakes if not use properly, and many of us dont know how to use it properly.
By believing that life is serious, people end up viewing things as either orderly or disorderly. According to this worldview, order is alway preferred to disorder. This preference results in both constructive order and destructive order, the latter being our biggest threat. The alternative is to view things as either constructive or destructive. In this system, construction is preferred to destruction. The pursuit of constructive goals results in both constructive order and constructive disorder. Constructive disorder originates from the rage, the engine of our movement.
I am on the verge of turning 33 this year, and in my mind I am witness to so many atrocities by the people that I have helped elect, an it makes me sick to my stomach. I don't want to be blind and mute, deff and dumb while the games that are being played behind closed doors are pointing us to a terrible end. I want a pound of flesh from the bastards, Like stated above the lie that I was born in has kept me down has destroyed my home town in eastern canada, and has placed me in a meaningless cog in a meaningless machine.
SO what I propose is not some walk threw a street, or a writing of a note of like minded individuals to the powers that are causing the frustration in the first place! No... enough, I want a nation wide stike, I want the machine to shut down, I want to march an army of my brothers and sisters into the house of that group of peace hating warmongering dogs, and shoot them in the head like the dirt they are. I don't care if i sound beyond reason, because in these times reason is not for sale. Because they are selling there children and yours down the river and if your leaders are the ones bent on killing all of us, you cant reason with psychopaths. Don't kid yourelf because they are just that . Creating a world of fear because the power they want is in us. And they won't be happy till we are gone.An I for one have no intention of being there lapdog any longer. thanx (that felt good)
The belief that we are actually able to change anything in this world is flawed. We are products of our environment which has been created by the serpents and there is no way for us to escape this reality.
The Eco era that we lived in is a product of the industry begging us to buy more but when they realised that it stops us from buying products what was the obvious answer? Do you think it is a coincidence that the price of basic necessities is rising......When cars are hybrid and use half the fuel wouldn't you have to charge double to make the same profit?
Us raging and saying that "we do not want gas cars we want electricity, is only giving them the info that they need to sell us what we want"
My suggestion is to not say anything and laugh while they scratch their heads trying to figure out why we are not buying their crap anymore
I am all rage
Krs
I like what the one commentor said about how things in life are grey.
I have rage, but it's not just a violent one. It is a rage that fuels me, motivates me to create, (since i'm not that great at destroying things consciously) to get people's attention away from distractions keeping them from what they really want in life whatever that may be. I many times have to nudge myself along.
Rage, wrath, our inner darkness is something we can all harmonize with, and find beauty, and peace in.
If I ever get arrested for something silly, like showing my free speech, or giving a hobo a sandwich. I'm not going to violently fight back, and i'm not going to just be silent either. They can cuff me and put me in the back of some truck with my fellow humans and i'll just glare and laugh at the officer, knowing that he and I are just part of the same.
I can't really see how laughing can be used against me in the court of law. hah.
"life is too short to be taken seriously" Jim Morrison.
Personally I lost hope on humanity. I can just watch and try to be myself with the people I can look in the eyes.
Intelligence is a mistake of evolution!
Apathy.
We are living in a generation of apathy, we are told by the older generations how easy we have it, we are told by the corperations that all we need is the next greatest thing, we are told by the media that the world is a harsh, horrifying and dangerous place so we're better off staying inside and playing our playstations (But not too much or heaven forbid we become a psychopathic killer)
We are told by the education system to sit down, shut up and stop thinking and we are instantly gratified again and again and again.
I was once with you, I once cared, I once bought adbusters, started recycle programs at my schools and jobs, I once fought the good fight to do something, anything.
But when rage is easily vented on online chat boards instead of festering in a disenfranchised youth, when at the click of a button you can finds thousands like you and ignore the thousands that disagree, when planning is brillient but all done from the comphort of your own home and DOING SOMETHING involves getting up off the couch...
Well I've been burned one to many times with promises of rallys and there being only two people with a slapshod sign between them. I've been disapointed with the ideals of yesteryear and think the plan the suposed underground wants is frankly stupid and would never work.
And I've been disgusted that after cancelling my subscription to Adbusters three years ago they still send me a goddam card in the mail telling me what I'm missing out on.
We've all sold out, and anyone on a computer to read this saying "Not me" is a deluded hipocrit.
And I can't even find the anger enough in me to be disgusted by much of anything anymore.
My problem with rage is that its usually directed (or misdirected) at those who arent responsible (rage perhaps being related in some way to panic). Awareness is important so that the rage or anger may be properly channeled.
Revoking corporations right to be a person in the US sounds pretty important, more people should be aware of such absurd anomalies.
[Comment deleted because it was written in all caps. Try again please. -Eds]
The plain and simple truth - as startling as it is - is that all of this is a game. Everything. Advertising, television, corporations, money, everything. The top individuals in all of those fields know that it is a game - and they play us for fools. All of us. No one is excluded from responsibility when it comes to the condition of society and Earth itself. We're only as good as people at the lowest rung, whatever you consider that to be - whether you figure it is the upper echelon of consumer, armchair anarchist, or flat out vagabond. Whatever. Discredit your opponent and you will be discredited yourself. Want to change the state of the world? Understand the world first. Understand that rage and pacifism are just the same as black and white - knowing full well that more in this world is grey than anything else. I don't think that rage is the answer, because the true powers that be expect rage. They expect black and white - but we have to give them grey. We have to raise our children balanced, since everywhere you look there will be something to pull them in one direction or another. There are stupid consumers and there are stupid activists and stupid politicians and stupid churches, etc. This generation has no purpose because we're all trying to be fire or ice, or nothing at all. We're all trying to be something, rather than just being. If we stop worrying about our identity - perhaps we'll understand that generational labels are placed by the generation following (or companies trying to sell to the 'now' generation - Pepsi's cola marketing campaign, for example) and that we shouldn't give a shit as to what generation we are. Progress is bogged down and slow because we haven't figured out the strategy to achieve progress anymore. No generational label will ease the discomfort knowing we're stagnant on so many issues. The shift coming is the shift you feel. Doesn't mean it's going to be universal, because rage doesn't make friends - but let's hope it starts to.
Better communication and emotional support for one another...especially when folks reach the age of having children.
Its relatively easy to "care" when you have little, don't have to worry about another human life depending on you (that an entity could KILL to silence you) and when you aren't tired and burnt out and suddenly becoming the oldest member of your collective...
Doing it while also living and raising a child is a totally different story.
The system doesn't have to "do" anything anymore to prevent change....just wait till the angsty children of privilege get older.
They'll drop out eventually and move to the burbs.
Unless we create better support networks.
Awareness, selflessness, and realizing that this revolution is more than worth dying for, will achieve sweet fruition. We'll reach it. I believe that there is an innate, instinctual Capt. Planet in all of us, begging for an outlet. Peace
Let's individually rage against the Machine. That will solve our collective problems! You're such a wild guy Kalle, Passion is the issue here - obviously. Change for the sake of passionate change. That will feed the hungry and get us out of cars. Road rage is the first step to a better world where cars never pollute and we have public transit. If only we were more wild and passionate we could finally fix everything better.
thats not the point, the point is that rage is the only emotion that will get people off their asses.
It gives me hope to see so many people expressing frustration/anger/rage(even?) over where we find ourselves in the present moment vis-a-vis the relationship between our everyday existences and the policies/plans/propaganda of those who occupy positions of power and prestige. To those who said they would do whatever it takes, I pose the following question? Would you do the difficult work of democratic politics; of negotiating compromises between parties with opposing viewpoints, of accepting pragmatic better-than-what-we've-got solutions rather than cutting your nose off to spite your face because you can't get a majority to consent to chasing pie-in-the-sky ideals; of taking personal responsibility for doing more to be a citizen than sitting around slinging snark and cynicism for three years and 364-1/4 days and feeling good about it because you voted in the last cycle? The system isn't perfect but its not the chief culprit. The people running the system are a major part of the problem. But, from whence did they derive the authority to run the system? If you don't like the decision that the majority made the last time they got to express their opinions - ask yourself what have I done to change their minds before the next time comes around?
Rage Against the Machine is fun . . . Bob Dylan is fun . . . raving to express yourself is fun . . . and arguably they all do something to alter people's consciousness of their own power and awareness of their present circumstances. But, Zack hasn't gotten us universal health care. Bob hasn't gotten us a solution to the social security conundrum. Raving hasn't improved the plight of the millions of people caught in the middle of the back-and-forth over immigration. To the best of my knowledge Bob never claimed he could or would or wanted to do those things. He has always known that the job of an artist is to inspire. If you love Rage and Fight club so much, DO (take action) what those movies inspire you to DO. But before you dash into the streets to burn cars, stop and think about what that gets you (and what that gets the car's owner who might be struggling to get by just like you). Its easy to get pissed off and vent it in one big useless ejaculation. Its hard to exercise mature, measured decision making and maintain control while at the same time allowing your rage to fuel you through the times when you feel like giving up.
Hey Raff - is that you??? You of the H2O Revolution...Boulder to Tennesee...?
By existing, you are helping us create change.
I watched on SBS (Australian TV) a contribution Adbusters had made to a documentary of 'Attack of the Happy People' (about x2c).
Adbusters is just what I'm looking for to help educate humanity in survival tactics.
If rage is what makes you change, embrace it. If ts realisation that you are a sucker for the corporate talk, then feel stupid til you can't take it and do something.
If you are so low, that there is only up to go - then sink that bit further.
Do what ever it takes to 'make that change' (sorry, but I was a child of the 80's and micheal sometimes, unwillingly. comes into my head)
Find the commons in our unity.
The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking. ~ Albert Einstein
I am not sure that rage is helpful if it is not paired with grief for how the previous systems/metanarratives/ideals/culture has failed us. No one will be open to change unless we have the listened to how it has failed others.
i want to create a bill that would revoke a corporations right to be a person. i am enraged because this hasant happened yet. what squeeling bubbling microwaved cock is that?! its a huge bunch of people acting like one guy? WTF? also alot of my rage comes from seeing all those other people who arent enraged, that really kills me... anyways back to my shit-fucking job tomorow so FUCKKKKK !
"mindfucked" perfect description of the modern(postmodern)psyche.
To think that so many are so sure of whats "natural".
There is certainly a major shift coming.
But that's the point the articles making, there's no clear vision or strategy. Maybe that's going to define the movement - maybe not. Maybe some kind of Po-Mo revolution wont have clear leaders or a clear vision but just be a period of massive change caused by the aggregate behaviour of "everyday people like you and me with our own philosophies". Maybe its reduced to geurilla warfare and terror cells in the World War Three that McLuhan predicted, a mass media, mass culture free-for-all.
Yum. Anger doesn't need a reason.
"...you only trade one form of propaganda for another, one bureaucracy for another, the common denominator is people. people are not good. i'm [sic] not good. your [sic] not good. thoughts [sic] that smell esoteric or supreme are what truly 'mind fucks' people if that same thought does not say "I am the chief of all ..."
Blah, blah, blah.
And thus, the world burns. We are all dogmatists, so says this commenter, we are all dogmatic, we are all no good, ...
Again: blah, blah, frickin'-blah.
The postmodernist screed, for all eyes to see and witness, and all stomachs to vomit away.
And we wonder why our world is burning.
A hint, postmodern-boy: your nihilism, your degenerate solipsism, is really old and, truth be known, dated. Likely you're an anarchist--yet another failed philosophy, one with its roots in fantasy and Malthusian catastrophism (hoped for, to be sure); an irony, since anarchists are the most dogmatic, most grossly fundamentalistic herd animals on the planet, excepting their Christo-fascist enemies at the other end of the spectrum.
Want a revolution? Want to bring down the corporations? Want to reverse the pervasive brainwashing found in our media, in our every glance? It requires something quite simple, all you solipsistic suckers: it requires you wake up from your dream of powerlessness; it requires actual courage (something utterly foreign to you, I know); it requires an authentic way of being that, paradoxically, stands away from yet engages the herd at every moment. I know, I know: a bit too much for your feeble, sad selves. But as Derrick Jensen (an anarchist, sadly) points out, the greatest single thing you can do is become who you are, and then even more so. That's the real revolution--not your adherence to your chin down, everything sucks, we're powerless--POWERLESS!--to do anything postmodernist pile of shit worldview. Capiche?
Lord.