Anger necessary for progress

Is it possible to achieve anything, or grow, if we don’t get “generously angry” (George Orwell)? Anger is one of the foundations for meaningful change, evolution, expansion, betterment, progress, assertion, both on the personal, societal, and humanitarian levels:

“The reasonable man adopts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man” (George Bernard Show)

James Webb, who extensively researched and wrote on giftedness and neurodiversity, shared that anger can reflect our dissatisfaction with reality, with the world, and how we are, and it leads us to strive for better. In contrast, those who mindlessly follow a mundane daily routine of work, family, eat, drink, Netflix, and sleep without a need for self-exploration and search for meaning they might not be very concerned about injustice, poverty, corruption, inequality, wars, environmental issues, etc. Therefore, their level and frequency of anger won’t be as intense and painful. Anger creates friction and tension, whether that’s internal or external, and not everyone can afford to tolerate and dance with that level of animation. And yet, we need internal conflicts and frictions in order to transform and transcend.

Idealists, visionaries, artists, nonconformists, activists, misfits, deep thinkers, gifted, highly sensitives (HSPs), those with higher moral sensitivity and ethics, ”… are not adjusted to the world as it is. Instead, they are adjusted to the world as it could be” (Kazimierz Dąbrowski). They never stop to question, contemplate, examine, wonder, reflect. Anger comes from a desire to improve, to make the world a better place. Because these individuals care and feel deeply, they notice hypocrisies, absurdities, discrepancies, insincerities in the society and in the behaviours of people around them. The world falls short of their standards and ideals, so they feel frustrated.

Ludwig van Beethoven had reasons to be angry, not only because he lost his hearing from a young age. He wrote in the letter to his brother:

“I am bound to be misunderstood; for me there can be no relaxation with my fellow-men, no refined conversations, no mutual exchange of ideas. . . I must live almost alone like an exile.”

Teodor Currentzis, a conductor with an image of an eccentric rebel, sympathises with Beethoven in the documentary Ninth Symphony: “He was not a difficult person. It was a difficult time. Every person in a difficult time becomes a difficult person”. Joan of Arc was even less lucky for having extraordinary gifts and ideas ahead of her time, as she was burned at the stake at the age of 19. Insurgents who questioned slavery, racism, women’s and human rights, felt discontentment and objection that urged them to fight and create the world we have now. It seems like we need some individuals to get angry on behalf of a specific group to refine and move our civilisation forward. Revolutions and reforms happened because people were dissatisfied and demanded more justice. Poet Stanley Kunitz said: “The poet writes his poems out of rage”. We could say that we need symbolic lions and sheep in our society, those who roar and those who are peaceful in their nature. Although the symbolic sheep might look at the lions and wonder: What’s their problem? Why do they keep roaring and being so agitated?

Perhaps for some of us feelings of exasperation are an inevitable part of our existence as long as we live in a society that is, in many aspects, pathological, dysfunctional, and far from ideal:

“It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied. Better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied”. (John Stuart Mill).

Also, who decides what the right amount of anger we ought to feel in this imperfect world? The combination of our external circumstances and internal aspirations determines our level of irritation. For instance, imagine monks can afford to be serene as they sit – literally and figuratively – in full acceptance with what is. Why would they even get angry? They don’t need to earn money, run daily chores and admin, rush on busy roads, or look after their families. I’m not suggesting it’s easy to be a monk, I’m saying they are not exposed to the daily hustle and thousands of decisions that have the potential to bring frustrations. As higher goals, ambitions, and responsibilities one takes, as more obstacles they will face, which in turn will increase the chances of experiencing anger. The more invested we are in a cause, the higher the possibility of discontent.

Not every acceptance is a virtue. If we accept damaged roads, they will never get improved. If we settle for a low salary, we will never ask for a promotion or improve our skills. If we put up with abusive or mediocre relationships, our lives will lack quality and depth. Of course, we all have a right to choose a lifestyle that suits us, as long as it’s not harming others, but what I’m illustrating here is that in this context, anger is the “price” we pay for striving for advancement and excellence. Anger is a prerequisite for any change.

What are healthy ways of embracing anger internally and in our relationships, and why do we need courage for that? You can learn about it in the last section of this essay.