The Scream Inside

I suspect most people feel a sense of outrage at what is going on. Inside we feel this scream emerging.

But the things that are of value still have value. For too long our sense of self-worth has been measured by our dollar value more than anything else. Hence the feelings of entitlement by some. The people who party with taxpayer bailout money do so because they know they deserve it. I mean, they know it in their bones. They have been getting the big dollars, so they must have big value.

But what about the rest us? The feeling of wealth bought with credit has disappeared as E-Z credit evaporates. No more monster trucks, no more electric toys, no more McMansions built from wallboard and chicken wire. All the stuff that reassured people that they had value is now worthless junk no one can give away.

And people are mad.

Pepe Escobar wrote in the October 17th Asia Times:

But the whole scenario gets more dangerous. As McCain inexorably implodes, an extremely angry Republican party in most of its strands rears its ugly head - the extraordinary levels of hate at recent McCain-Palin rallies are just the tip of the iceberg. This correspondent has seen the mob become really brown-shirt scary, brandishing "Obama bin Lyin" placards or yelling "Kill him!"

I say this is the anger that grows from self-hatred, the most dangerous kind. This is the kind of anger that must look for a scapegoat, must find someone to blame for one's own failings and disappointments.
That never goes anywhere good.

I've been thinking about this because my own anger was making me depressed. Then I started asking why? When did I ever wait for someone to tell me what to think or how to act? I follow my own sense of what's right. I don't let other people set up obstacles in my way. If they knock me down I pick myself up. I think a little whining among friends is okay. But I'm not going to let these arrogant fools define me. My confidence doesn't depend on them.
Time to pick up the pieces and move forward.