I’m Mad as Hell and I am not Going to Take This Anymore

By Tom Kando

The 1976 movie Network was not as good as many people think. It is best remembered for News anchorman Peter Finch’s famous words, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.”

This was a safe and meaningless outcry, because the movie never said what he - and you - were supposed to be mad about.

This reminds me of the mindless anger of many people today, especially those enamored by demagogues like Glenn Beck and the always-angry Sarah Palin. (She recently asked for White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s firing because of some foul language he used in a meeting).

I see angry folks like that in the news - the Tea Party people are a prime example - and in my dentist’s waiting room. An old geezer maybe, who seems to be really mad at the world (I’m also an old geezer, but my brain hasn’t atrophied that much, yet). These old geezers are angry, but they don’t know at whom, or why. Is it incipient Alzheimer’s? Some variant of Tourette’s Syndrome?

I can imagine the following conversation with one of them:

After watching the news for a moment on the TV set in the waiting room, he looks away, disgusted, and mumbles, “they should all be shot!”
I ask, “who should be shot?”
“All of them!”
“Why?”
“They’re all a bunch of crooks and thieves and liars. I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.”
“What are you mad about?”
“The whole corrupt mess, the politicians, and the media, and all the big shots. They are all in cahoots together. The country is going to hell in a handbasket. And the kids are no good. They only care about drugs and sex anymore...”
“So the problem is with the politicians and with the kids?”
“...and the lawyers, and the professors, and the government, and Wall Street, and the media, and Hollywood...”
“Anybody else?”
“Yeah, everybody else, too!”
“But not you?”
“Nah, I’m okay...I keep my nose clean...”
“Mmm...So what should be done?”

“I’ll tell you what should be done: fire all the bastards and go back to square one. When I was young, we didn’t put up with this garbage.”

This is the level of political sophistication around us. Inchoate rage. Solutions? Zero. Just say no to everything. Propose a plan of action? Never. Blame everyone else? Sure. Might you be part of the problem? No way!

Anger and frustration during this terrible economic recession are understandable. But this unfocused, uninformed, nihilistic anger is part of the disease, not the cure. leave comment here