Better to be pissed off...

[Mythsaje]

Bet you know how this line ends. "...than pissed on."

I was just contemplating how we concentrate an awful lot on the negative. We like fiery, contentious stuff that rips into the Republicans, the Bush Administration, and just about anyone we can agree simply sucks. The pundits, Evangelical hypocrites, and anyone who spits in the face of a more progressive union.

God, but do we like bashing the crap out of them at every opportunity.

Skinner asked in a thread today whether we ever "get tired of hating."

Eeeyup. Sure do. As most of you know, I can write a rip-snorting rant with the best of them, cutting massive swaths through the hypocrisy and hate-mongering of the Right Wing like a 500 gigawatt laser.

But I'm also an optimist, and I like to write things that reflect the positive as well. Hope for the future, belief in the goodness of humanity, and how we can make a real difference simply by believing in and working for humanity.

Of course, I notice those threads fall flat on their face. The last few such I've written barely get any response at all. Disappointing, really. Are we really that bitter and hateful that we'd rather focus on the negative than cheer the positive?

If that's all this is about these days, I'm not sure what I'm even doing here. It can't be all doom and gloom and bitterness and hate. Sure, the Republicans suck, but WE don't. We have better ideas, we have faith in ourselves and in our fellow humans. At least I HOPE we do. Things don't have to be this way, and they don't have to STAY this way. We can do something different, we can bring out the best in humanity rather than appealing to the beasts within.

Has even our view of things become so soured that we'd prefer to read a venomous rant than something uplifting and hopeful?

I certainly hope not. I see no reason to write only biting commentary and leave off writing the more optimistic, hopeful stuff. I'd think we could use a little of the latter every now and again. One can not live on poison alone.

Or am I wrong?

[Maddy McCall]

1. A 10 watt nightlight can cut through Republican bullshit.

:)

[corkhead]

2. your optimistic writing is an part of the DU circle of life. Like Skinner said, it goes in cycles.

I personally feel as though I am now pulling back from the abyss of the last couple of weeks and I am more ready to read about a rebirth from the ashes. NGU

[Silver Gaia]

3. No, you are not wrong.

For one soul, sitting here alone in the dark late at night, you've helped.

There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

Thank you for this. I needed it.

[annabanana]

4. I guess that what's not broken doesn't need as much attention

as what is. There is much beautiful to celebrate. It deserves to be appreciated. But then peoples attention is drawn back to the work at hand.

[Silver Gaia]

5. Focusing on hope and beauty helps to remind us what

the work at hand is really all about. If we lose our hope, we lose sight of the goal. It is often easier to sink into despair than to rise up and fight. For that, we often need a bit of inspiration. Transform the rage into a useful tool. And use it.