Marc, I wish that Obama could have pushed through a stimulus at the end of his presidency, but the Republicans were just dead-set against it. Watch how quickly they support the infrastructure when it’s proposed by Trump. This is so reflective of the reflexive polarization we have. Somebody has to take the lead in toning it down. Sometimes I think that progressives can do it, but then I see rhetoric from the left that gives me great pause.

I think that we all deal with anger and displace it. But once we’re aware of it and can name it, we are in a position to manage it. Sounds like your mind has control of your heart when things get intense.

Hopefully there will be another Crossroads reunion in the near future. If so, I’d love it if you could come to STL and we could chat. Also, maybe I’ll make it to South Carolina. I know that it’s particularly beautiful in the spring.

I worry about the direction Trump’s policies will have as well. I wasn’t a fan of either Trump or Clinton and my vote reflected that. There is hope in some of what he says, rebuilding the infrastructure should provide a number of good paying jobs for minorities and middle class as well as his wall. I feel Obama dropped the ball near the end of his first term, he should have put America back to work with the infrastructure, instead he discontinued unemployment extensions to drop unemployment numbers creating a false positive for his reelection run. NAFTA has proven to be a complete disaster to the middle class ( part of the Clinton baggage I spoke of ) Trump wants to end it. I’ve found Hollywood to be strictly Democratic I don’t think he could find enough support there to make a crowd.
Displaced anger, lashing out at the innocent. The ability to rule your emotions vs. your emotions ruling you, this is battle I’ve fought all my life. According to my wife it’s the Italian in me coming out. It certainly can account for 99% of apologies she has received from me. In an effort of self betterment my episodes of displaced anger are fewer and farther between and I usually recognize it as soon as the words come out my mouth. Think before you speak.

Marc, I love most of what you say. I like the perspective that the “angry person” says that the dog bit them first. I also agree with you about how Democrats have been enablers of gridlock, perhaps even to the degree that Republicans have. This is something where one party has to take the lead to try to compromise and collaborate. I would like to think that Democrats might be inclined to do a little bit of that now since they may get some good policy decisions out of it, particularly with regard to an economic stimulus.

I further agree with you about so many of the people in Washington seem to direct the funnel of money to those who need it least and away from those who need it most. This all adds up to a lot of voters being pissed off because they are being screwed in so many ways.

My concern is that many (not all) of the policies that Trump has supported will do further damage to the declining white middle class and will also take many minorities down for further falls. My only hope is that Trump really does not know what he believes and he’ll go in the direction of those who will cheer for him. Liberals may surprise themselves by cheering him on with certainly policies that conservatives disdain. Trump probably wouldn’t mind getting the Hollywood crowd behind him.

But key to what I was trying to say is that we have to learn more about why people displace their anger. I tend to think that a lot of it has to do with the fact that critical thinking is not high on the priority list for most schools. If those of us who were at Crossroads when you were there played any role in the kind of critical thinking that you expressed in the comment, we can feel very good about it.

Stacy, I agree with so much of what you say. I am familiar with Zinn’s book and think that he did much to advance political dialogue in our country. What I’m looking for now is something that is perhaps less political and more psychological. Why does the guy kick the dog when he stubbed his toe? Why does the worker demonize Obama or Clinton when Republicans have prevented them from enacting policies that could actually help them? Why do we displace? I think that the shrinks need to join the progressive political junkies in trying to figure this one out.

The ability to manipulate and stoke the fires of populace
anger has long been a tool in Power’s arsenal. The scary part is that it
is so easy for them to do and often against our better judgment. They
hold the purse strings, we are at their mercy. They can raise or
lower taxes, manipulate currency and inflation, restrict lending and
control interest rates, keep the minimum wage long past its expiration
date, gamble on the misfortune of others, create or destroy jobs, create
and destroy markets, bring entire countries to their knees–and all
while giving themselves raises.

The key part is that we’re
fighting each other, while they get away with all manner of things.
We’re too busy trying to fit a square peg into a round hole to look at
the big gaping round holes in D.C. and on Wall Street. If someone
exposes the “man behind the curtain”, we toss them in jail or
assassinate their character so as to marginalize and discredit them.
“Shoot the messenger” type of stuff; more manipulation of our anger. We
know better, but we do it repeatedly, over and over. How do we armor
ourselves against this type of manipulation? The power players know a
united people have the power, so they seek to divide us. WE know they
are doing it but seem helpless to stop ourselves from reacting in
exactly the way they want us to.