Personal Happiness vs Global Anxiety

In general, I am a happy person.  Yes, I experience drops of water from my eyes in many situations, but I truly believe in tears of joy, and upon analysis have discovered that far more of my eye leakage reflects overwhelming emotions related to triumph over odds, and empathy of others epiphanies, rather than tears over tragedies.  I see a father in a movie on TV who is ecstatic over the happy marriage of his daughter, and imagine myself trying to get through a toast at the wedding of either of my children.  Instant tears.

Now, to be fair, I am a white male who has been blessed with many advantages.  Born of loving parents who were willing to sacrifice their own wants for their children's needs and future opportunities.  Born in America, where democracy still rules, albeit with the fractures of the influence of money and power on who we are offered as candidates.  Born with a strong constitution, rarely sick, high level of energy.  Born with a relatively healthy mind, just your average vices, although I do have a bit of a martyr complex that can bedevil me.  Born with a love of reading, which enables me to seek information to mold my perspective, and to access the thoughts of the greatest minds and most highly evolved spiritual beings who have graced our planet.

In reality, there should be less a question of my being happy, as wondering why someone like myself would not be happy.  I imagine that in the coming decades, as sociologists and psychologists and historians delve into the causes of so much violence and anger which permeates our culture, in addition to the toll that self destructive behavior is exacting on our population via opioids, alcohol, and easy access to guns, there may be some revelations about those among us who seem perpetually angry, always on the edge of violence, and eager for a fight, despite our collective advantages of being born in a country with far more freedoms and ease of living than, literally, billions of other people on our planet in this very moment.

I suspect that those in power, consciously or subconsciously, encourage the apparent jealousy and hatred that some Americans feel towards people born south of the border, or in poverty, or with difficult circumstances that have everything to do with the cards they were dealt at birth.  Directing our anger towards those with less, painting them as invaders who want to steal our advantages, or highlighting the small percentage of those who do take advantage of the social networks aimed at those who are struggling, while pretending that the vast majority of people who need a christian helping hand, are truly in need, and could be us if we were faced with an unexpected hardship or accident, is a good plan when the true leeches on society are the greedy rich who care only for accumulating more wealth, and the corporations which were formed precisely to divert responsibility for illegal and immoral behavior while reaping the benefits when everything is rosy.   

Or maybe it will ultimately just be because we have succumbed to our collective addiction to privilege, and can not handle it when we need to work through our problems, address them in the eye, acknowledge our weaknesses as well as our strengths, and act in concert with our brothers and sisters to solve the issues of the day, whether they be personal or national.  I have in my mind a book called
The Rise and (Hopefully not) Fall of America, which details why we need to reflect a little more on where we came from, and where we are headed, and turn, at least a portion of our selfish tendencies inside out so that Earth First, or even Humanity First replaces the insidious mantra that is harming the soul of our country, and impeding the progress that has been made in response to the evils enacted on humanity by the last country who's leader promoted the "Fatherland above all", and the superiority of the Aryan race.

I have seen much more mention of the angry liberal, since the 2016 election.  I see examples of it on certain news shows which depict progressives in the face of those who disagree with their politics, or who deride those who wear certain red hats, or who express such outrage at those who voted for a candidate other than their own, that they make the supporters of the other party, feel just like those among us who are afraid to acknowledge their crime of illegal border crossing, or who stay in the closet concerning their sexual preference, or true gender identity (some liken the idea of "coming out" to the debutante's coming out party of days gone by), or who are reluctant to enroll in the various social support programs to avoid the stigma which they or their children might experience.  Sometime karma can be a real bitch!

At first I scoffed at such attempts to paint liberals as angry or violent, and now I realize I was wrong.  Just as in any movement, from the battle for women's suffrage, to equal rights for blacks, to the struggle to acknowledge that AIDS is a disease, not a punishment from God, there are always people who tire of waiting and turn to violence.  I believe that the first such organized example of this was the War for Independence.  So yes, I guess there are some angry, violent liberals who believe so strongly in their cause that they lash out at those who they see enabling the very thing that they find the most despicable, the most harmful for America and Earth. 

It is hard to hold true to the notion that if you are right, then continued, non-violent, demonstrations, relentless publicity about the correctness of your cause, total devotion to what you truly believe is the right, and moral, path, will not win the day.  However, when time passes, and progress is slow, and suffering continues unabated, it is understandable that enough is, literally, enough, and frustration pushes a normally patient person to act in a way that they don't normally act.  I imagine that like people, movements have their breaking points as well, and once reached, either fade away (Occupy Wall Street), or develop a new strategy.

I do not advocate violence in any shape or form.  As liberals, we need to be better than those who use intimidation and violence to make their point.  While America may have a history of this kind of behavior, from our treatment of the Native population that was here before us, to the current separation and jailing of children at our southern border, it does not mean we should fall to the level of the opposition.  It is not an easy path, and there will be times when we stray.  Like most people, I am in a hurry for real climate change action, real immigration reform, real support of democratic values which exclude the influence of money and foreign enemies.  But, if there is justice, the reforms will happen whether we get to see them or not.  History is filled with people who worked tirelessly to create change, only to die before that change came to fruition.  It is probably the hardest realization one can have when involved in something bigger than one self.  And if we are not right, or if too many Americans continue to be blind to their selfishness, then...

Which brings me to Global Anxiety.  Can a happy person as I believe myself to be, also acknowledge and experience the dread that some of us fear when it comes to the future of our planet?  Can one be happy, and still be anxious, and do the actions of someone who is passionate about the alarming data related to climate change, actions which may seem angry to those who do not sense that danger, actually indicate an unhappy person?  Or to put in another way, can someone who is unhappy with our national nonchalance about climate change, be happy in their personal life?

Oh, the complexity of the human animal!

I guess, like so many things, we must strike a balance.  Acknowledge the good things in our lives, the love of our family, the good fortune that enables us to sit and type on a weekday, or read the words someone else has typed on our WiFi connected phone, or personal computer.   Look around at the beauty of nature, the unfathomable size of the sky above us, and yes, even at the great accomplishments that man has created, and smile, be grateful. 

It is OK to feel the privilege of living in America, as long as you recognize that there are those among us who do not share in all the privileges, or who have come here looking to earn those privileges.  It is OK to spend a leisurely day at the beach, unwinding from the stresses of everyday life, as long as you recognize that we need to protect those same beaches from plastic trash, and to enact policies that restrict the dumping of poisons into our oceans.  It is OK to laugh, make love, watch mindless entertainment, as long as you also recognize that those moments should also fuel your desire to see all people be able to have the same moments, whether they be a white male from Jamaica Estates, or a black girl from the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

I guess I have concluded that Personal Happiness does not negate Global Anxiety.  That both can exist in your life, and heart.  And, perhaps, that both should!