There’s so much anger.
We see it on the streets, in our media and at the polls.
Cities across England are aflame this week after a police-shooting death in north London Saturday. Regardless of whether those who have taken part riot over a sense of injustice, the economy or opportunism, certainly others – as we in the Lower Mainland know too well – have rioted for far, far less.
The riot reports have replaced on the world stage the recent terrorist attacks in Norway two weeks earlier that killed 77 and injured dozens more (which had, in turn, replaced outrage over the the international media scandal in which privacy has been invaded and laws broken).
What next?
In the United States, polarization of politics has resulted in a steady flow of vitriol spewing from all sides and a local economy that threatens the rest of us beyond their borders.
Closer to home, voters seethe as we threaten repercussions over high taxes, lost rights and fickle representation, yet we never seem to gather the strength to organize a meaningful, peaceful revolt.
Instead, we seethe.
The problem is, too many of us are seething and, as is happening around the world, mass seething can lead to pockets of violence.
It’s as if the world is suffering from road-rage, and we don’t know who’s going around the bend next.
Time to say enough.
What the world needs now is leadership – calm, authoritative leadership. We need a call for peace – accompanied by a call for justice that isn’t entrenched with a call to arms.
We need civil discourse rather than civil disobedience.
And we need it fast.
Until then, it’s important that we, as individuals, take matters in our own hands to ensure we never reach that boiling point.
Perhaps it’s just a matter of limiting our news intake and turning off the testosterone-fuelled shows and sports that pass for entertainment these days.
And, perhaps, it’s finding your solace, whether walking on the beach, enjoying a good book or practising a musical instrument in the quiet of your own home – at peace, while the world around you burns.
