“In times of trouble, some people find comfort in hate and anger in lieu of fear.“
In order to better understand the overreaction of many Americans during the past year, one needs to take into account the angst created by our failure to move decisively away from heavy reliance on fossil fuels. Added to other human shortcomings, as highlighted by the pandemic, it does not seem likely that we’ll be able to do so in time to avoid ‘great suffering’. The fear engendered by this is fueling problematic behaviors that are not constructive. The preferred alternative is universal proactivity.
“If you are proactive, you make things happen, instead of waiting for them to happen to you. Active means ‘doing something’. The prefix pro- means ‘before ‘. So if you are proactive, you are ready before something happens. The opposite is being ‘reactive’, or waiting for things to unfold before responding.
Related article:
“Although the experience of negative emotions is generally associated with negative behaviors and outcomes, negative emotions can lead to proactive behavior. For instance, emotions such as anger and fear can spark proactive behavior by signaling a need to change the status quo... such that when anger (a generally non-cooperative response to a perceived threat) is directed away from fight that harms others and toward fight that benefits others, and when fear is directed away from flight and toward increased protective effort (fight).”
