Rage as a defining characteristic of our time period

I want to point out some things about rage, from my studies in psych, and then talk about rage in our society.

Rage is persistent anger, and it is not much differentiable from “hate.” Anger is a threat response, but it is not the only threat response. Anger almost never is directed towards non-humans. We don’t become enraged at the boulder chasing Indiana Jones just because it is a threat. We would not become enraged at it even if it chased us.

Thus we conclude that anger involves a few more conditions to activate. The simplest way to summarize it is “self-righteousness.” Nobody wants to admit we are self-righteous, but the fact is that any time we believe ourselves to be “better” than others, we are self-righteous. This might happen even if our confidence is low, because we might believe that others are even worse. Anger is an emotion that activates when we think others are very bad and that they “should know better.” We have a deep emotional urge to use violence either to 1) exterminate the human enemy, or 2) to incentivize (traumatize) them to “change” - this urge towards violence is the function of anger.

On reddit we witness this depiction of conservatives as being cartoonishly, impossibly evil. I want to highlight an incredible comment I witnessed, which fortunately had many rebuttals because it is an obvious lie, but also had an enormous number of upvotes and quite a few positive comments as well:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bumble/comments/1m1q232/comment/n3jnvzq/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I would urge all readers to oppose rage, on principle.

It is simply untrue that people are “bad” inside. Viewing people as such - even if this view is unconscious - will generate rage.

How does one interpret people’s bad behavior? Usually it is due to their acting on bad information. They might have bad information about what other people are “really like” - this is the problem liberals have. Or they might have bad information about how their own behavior affects others, which is due to a deficit in the ability to imagine yourself in the place of others who are on the receiving end of your behavior (lack of empathy) - this is the problem conservatives tend to have.

It is also untrue that people’s worst moments are “Freudian slips” (or some other cliche that amounts to a similar idea) that reveal “who they really are.” Instead, the truth is that people “say things that they don’t really mean” when they are in a state of high emotion. That could be an exaggeration, joke, or insult.


There is a dream that there will be a white-advocate MLK-archetype who goes up in front of huge crowds and angrily demands better treatment. The dream is that the anger you feel will somehow be useful. The anger inside of us is constantly arguing to us that it is useful and must be kept around. I think Jared Taylor wants to be the white MLK. This can’t happen - it’s impossible. The reason it worked for MLK is that public opinion had already swung in favor of better treatment of African Americans by the 1950’s, in large part due to WWII and also due to media messaging. The elites were particularly on his side, and as such, most of the justice system was ready to create and enforce anti-discrimination laws.

The way to heal society isn’t to enact rage. It is to put an end to this rage. Everyone in society needs to be low-rage, and it needs to be socially unacceptable to be enraged. In most countries, rage is quite rare - the United States is one place where it is abnormally common. People on all sides of the political divide have rage; it is a pervasive characteristic of our epoch in US History.

White-advocates should not wait for others to change, before changing ourselves. White advocates should be people who treat others well and with good-faith, and who put a stop to their own rage. This is strategic as well as being a “progressive” thing that one can feel proud of for its own sake.

An angry man does not usually shake his fist at the universe in general. He makes a selection and knocks his neighbor down.

– John Gardner


I agree with your overall point, but I wouldn’t say that anger requires a person. Anger can be directed at inanimate objects – like a bowling ball that drops on your foot – but I guess you could say that we project human characteristics onto them.

The most repeatable way to create anger is to repeatedly fail a task. For example, threading a needle. It will always make you angry, because that’s just how anger works – it’s a desperate measure.

Anger is addictive and unproductive. That’s why I advise against watching the news, or using X.com. Angry spaces are anti-intellectual. And “anti-intellectual” is the key phrase when discussing the organization of dissent. Dissent must be cool-headed and “intellectual.”

what if some people are actually just bad? Jews have been bad, by all definitions, for over 3000 years. Should we try giving them therapy? They practically invented therapy.

I’m going to break my reply in two, as I might have to step away for a few…

It’s a mistake, maybe even a dangerous one, to conflate anger with rage. Although rage is definitely “of” anger, it’s a “later stage,” with those afflicted having a MUCH greater propensity for violence than simple anger… amongst the well-adjusted, anyways. It is well-known that the mental health of (American) liberals is less robust than that of their conservative counterparts (too new to post links, apparently), so I’m not particularly surprised by seeing a post from a self-described liberal thinking a normal person being angry is equivalent to being in a rage (as evidenced by the violence of their “peaceful protests,” for example).
I also respectfully disagree with the suggestion that there’s no differentiation between hate & rage; those in a rage (often paired with “blind,” or “blinding”) are understood to have, at the very least, taken temporary leave of their senses, while those acting on hate are exactly the opposite, having purposefully “cultivated” their grievances, & dispatching with meticulous planning their “stand.” In general. I’m sure there are exceptions & outliers, but you “grow” to hate, whilst being “blind” in a rage.

Welcome to the website.

I think you’ve given me opportunity to clarify - I define “rage” in the Seven Deadly Sins sense of being like a kind of persistent trait (character flaw), rather than a temporary feeling.

In other words, “rage” to me is like “sloth.” It’s also like “joy” in that way, since Joy is defined in Christianity as a kind of latent persistent happiness.

Thank you, seems like a nice place…should’a brought some wine, or something, LoL.

I think I’ve seen that movie (Pitt, the black guy, & the guy from The usual Suspects, right? Forgot their names), but it’s still folly to confuse wrath with rage. Again, there’s a specificity that can’t manifest with rage alone. That’s not to say that one can’t become enraged in the presence of/in battle with their enemies, perceived or otherwise, & lose reign of their faculties in so doing (we have the Geneva Convention because of this), but wrath is more closely aligned with vengeance than rage, in that regard. I see from your analogy where the “self-righteousness” bit comes from. I initially understood your “studies in psych” pertaining to your interpretation of SOME formal education in the matter. Whilst definitely a “psychological thriller,” I hope that you’re not including too much of Hollywood into your studies here, friend…
To your other points, though:
“Urge others to oppose rage.” Why? It can be quite beneficial, if you’re of a group needing a definitive victory over more than a perceived enemy (the US, & by default her citizens, are NOT signatories of the Geneva Convention after all)… unless you’re somehow against oppressed groups rising up against their oppressors. Coveted are the “berserk” in such “frenzied” situations.
To that end, if people of Western European ancestry are being collectively cornered, as it appears they are, & they’re not allowed to live by their traditional customs, as it appears that they aren’t, & if their elimination is sought, as it appears that it is, & no alliance is being offered, as it appears that it isn’t, then the only hope they truly have, is the manifestation of rage in battle against their enemies…yes? That it’s so far been an unfathomably slow boil indicates it will (if it in fact does) be a wrathful rage, by a group driven to hate, in my opinion.
Also, humans hold themselves higher than every other lifeform on this planet, as we feel we’re all above species classification. But suppose for a second that we weren’t, & we held ourselves to the same standards as every other Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, & Species… there’s only one species (with a couple subs) that have a mimick…& if we were to study ourselves with the objective clarity that we do everything else, we’d see how well they’ve managed to capitalize off of their host, how they’ve managed to overtake control, & then to further extrapolate their own demise, as the parasite has grown too efficient at killing off its host, leaving itself defenseless in a world it’s essentially trained against “itself.”
I dunno, maybe… maybe I watch too many movies myself, LoL.
But to summarize-
Anger=/=rage
Rage=/= hate/wrath
Rage=/=bad/negative universally
Hollywood=/=reality
LoL

Hi there, welcome to the forum.

I don’t know precisely what these words mean but if I were to guess:

Anger - A mode of desperation that is aggressive as opposed to submissive or flighty (as we see with fear).

Rage - Extreme anger.

Wrath - Anger in the context of revenge.

Anger is narcissistic, and NPD is an angry condition. An angry person will say and do anything to win – lie, slander, gaslight, mindgames etc.

Rage isn’t always bad but it’s always anti-intellectual. I have never seen an angry person conduct themselves appropriately. It takes off 30 or 40 IQ points.

For this reason I don’t lend much respect to high IQ’s, rather to people who can be humble and control their emotions.

Sadness is supposedly at the root of anger. People forced into anger management are often diagnosed with depression. To that end, you’ve got to wonder how many people are their tears to see so much anger on the surface now. I think we’re seeing the results of people eating their anger as well, in the outbursts of rage via shooting/stabbing/bombing sprees, especially of soft, random/innocent targets. I’ve got the utmost respect for people who can keep their emotions in check, but if there exists that much actual cause to fuel the levels of sadness/anger/rage that seems to be simmering, then perhaps it’s coordinated application upon those forces is warranted. The problem, as I see it, is the lack of focus/coordination. As such, it’s nothing more than blind, impotent rage.