Where was the public outcry—the
outrage?
(Gretchen Morgenson, financial
reporter, author of Reckless Endangerment,
speaking on public reaction to Fannie Mae financial misconduct)
The opinions expressed below
are mine alone: this is not a political blog, but I felt this detour needed
to be taken. This needs to be said.
We Americans have become frightened
of outrage: we assume it leads to violence. Currently, we’re tired and easily
overwhelmed. We’re not merely physically exhausted, trying to dog-paddle our
way through this economy, we’re also morally and spiritually worn out, having to witness the unscrupulous or self-serving behaviors around us.
Apathy is a placeholder emotion
for extreme anger. Apathy makes
passivity easier to handle—“I’m not doing anything about it because frankly I
could care less”—yet the anger remains. It’s that sick feeling you experience
when you read about another corrupt or inept leader, another convicted felon finagling the
legal system to protect his own rights, another innocent victim.
There are people in the world doing
wrong with complete impunity: Joseph Kony…Jeff Neely and his cronies at the
GSA…perhaps, local to you, the
director of a local school or nonprofit who’s using a discretionary slush fund
to pay for his next family vacation. We don’t have to like it, and we can do
something about it.
Let
them know you are not going to put up with it.
Blind, frantic outrage leads to violence. And then there's intelligent outrage. I say there’s nothing wrong with the latter. Outrage doesn’t have to lead to violence but to an expression of our rights
and beliefs, supported by what Stéphane Hessel calls “a determined will.” How you choose to express your outrage is up to you, but intelligent outrage must bring people together around problem-solving—not divide, shame, or commit further violence against others.
We Americans were not intended to
become well-heeled sheep, but to find our way through civil discourse and
protest. This was supposed to be the land of solutions and remedies, not
disgusted bystanders.
Next month: No more excuses—what
to do with your outrage
