{"id":1982,"date":"2019-12-16T18:17:55","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T02:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/?p=1982"},"modified":"2019-12-18T08:46:21","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T16:46:21","slug":"in-defense-of-anger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/post\/in-defense-of-anger\/","title":{"rendered":"In Defense of Anger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In his 1980 cinematic debut, <em>The Empire Strikes Back<\/em>, the Jedi master and grammatically-challenged Fozzie Bear soundalike known as Yoda said that \u201canger leads to hate, and hate leads to the Dark Side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sorry, your greenness, but I\u2019m going to call bullshit. Fuzzy-headed, hippie bullshit. That\u2019s right. I\u2019m sticking up for anger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Fully realizing that this idea originated in the mind of George Lucas and not Yoda\u2019s foam-rubber cranium, I would like to make the case that anger and hate do not lie on the same emotional continuum. Hate is the emotionally incontinent child of fear, while anger is an appropriate response to injustice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>America\u2019s abolitionists were angry about slavery. Suffragettes were angry at being denied the franchise. Mahatma Gandhi was angry about British imperialist oppression in India. Martin Luther King, Jr. was angry about racial injustice in the United States. A whole generation of young Americans were angry about the Vietnam War. Nelson Mandela was angry about apartheid, as were Steve Van Zandt and the other artists who came together to record the <em>Sun City<\/em> album. The Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements were born out of anger. Colin Kaepernick is angry, and so is Greta Thunberg, who is managing that anger just fine, thank you, putting it to the highest possible purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s true that anger and hatred sometimes appear superficially similar, but they are easy to tell apart. The people who voted for Donald Trump did not do so out of anger. They did so out of fear. When people are afraid, they vote for demagogues. When they\u2019re angry, they vote for reformers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t be afraid. Get angry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Don\u2019t believe Yoda\u2019s hippie bullshit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[388,55],"tags":[218,398],"class_list":["post-1982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-venting","tag-donald-trump","tag-yoda"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>In Defense of Anger - Paul McElligott Dot Com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/post\/in-defense-of-anger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In Defense of Anger - Paul McElligott Dot Com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Don\u2019t believe Yoda\u2019s hippie bullshit.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/post\/in-defense-of-anger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Paul McElligott Dot Com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/paulmcelligott\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-12-17T02:17:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-12-18T16:46:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/BCD422EF-47D2-4872-907F-68442C484FC0.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1536\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"864\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul McElligott\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@PaulMcElligott\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@PaulMcElligott\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul McElligott\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/post\/in-defense-of-anger\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/post\/in-defense-of-anger\/\",\"name\":\"In Defense of Anger - Paul McElligott Dot Com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-17T02:17:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-12-18T16:46:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7046cd03017c72208828f8044a1bdbe8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/post\/in-defense-of-anger\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/post\/in-defense-of-anger\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/post\/in-defense-of-anger\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"In Defense of Anger\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Paul McElligott Dot Com\",\"description\":\"The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible (Vladimir Nabokov)\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7046cd03017c72208828f8044a1bdbe8\",\"name\":\"Paul McElligott\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/075aacd7c1bd61f6addac96bcb712d1c3919ef4d2a1605cc98b3dc5344de75ec?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/075aacd7c1bd61f6addac96bcb712d1c3919ef4d2a1605cc98b3dc5344de75ec?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paul McElligott\"},\"description\":\"Author, Writer, Scribe, Wordsmith, Thesaurus owner.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/post\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"In Defense of Anger - Paul McElligott Dot Com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/post\/in-defense-of-anger\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"In Defense of Anger - Paul McElligott Dot Com","og_description":"Don\u2019t believe Yoda\u2019s hippie bullshit.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/post\/in-defense-of-anger\/","og_site_name":"Paul McElligott Dot Com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/paulmcelligott\/","article_published_time":"2019-12-17T02:17:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-12-18T16:46:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1536,"height":864,"url":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/BCD422EF-47D2-4872-907F-68442C484FC0.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Paul McElligott","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@PaulMcElligott","twitter_site":"@PaulMcElligott","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paul McElligott","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/post\/in-defense-of-anger\/","url":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/post\/in-defense-of-anger\/","name":"In Defense of Anger - Paul McElligott Dot Com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-12-17T02:17:55+00:00","dateModified":"2019-12-18T16:46:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7046cd03017c72208828f8044a1bdbe8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/post\/in-defense-of-anger\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/post\/in-defense-of-anger\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/post\/in-defense-of-anger\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"In Defense of Anger"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/","name":"Paul McElligott Dot Com","description":"The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible (Vladimir Nabokov)","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7046cd03017c72208828f8044a1bdbe8","name":"Paul McElligott","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/075aacd7c1bd61f6addac96bcb712d1c3919ef4d2a1605cc98b3dc5344de75ec?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/075aacd7c1bd61f6addac96bcb712d1c3919ef4d2a1605cc98b3dc5344de75ec?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Paul McElligott"},"description":"Author, Writer, Scribe, Wordsmith, Thesaurus owner.","url":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/post\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1982"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1990,"href":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1982\/revisions\/1990"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paulmcelligott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}