Using Your Anger as an Organizing Tool for a Successful Campaign
Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair
I get it. No one wants to be a jerk or impolite as they set out on their personal effort to change the world or even their home town. So they go to Town Council meetings, and meet with the local legislators and even Congressional representatives to make their well-researched case for cleaner air, safer water, or the need for child care, etc..
Most often they are treated politely in return. That is the way “Civil Society” is supposed to function, especially in a democracy where individual voices are supposed to be heard and all the good ideas can find their way to the table for discussion.
But the desire to be polite, to never offend, usually ends up being completely ineffective when pursuing goals that decision makers are wont to resist either because the idea is new or the “official” is ideologically opposed.
Having played the role of “public citizen” for more than forty years, now, I have attended well over a thousand meetings, hearings and forums conducted by nearly all levels of government as well as the private sector. At first, I had sincere belief that when I spoke, I was being heard and understood that if the idea I was presenting was the best one to solve a particular problem, it would, like cream, rise to the top.
It probably took me about two years to finally realize that, not only did I know more about the subject matter I was discussing than the supposed “experts” sitting at the elevated tables but also that they had little interest in hearing what I had to say.
Of course, those in charge always treated me politely, hiding their dismissal, disrespect and even contempt of my ideas and offerings.
It was not until their decisions were rendered that the futility of my participation actually would come to light.
As if the decision was pre-ordained, permission to pollute was always granted, the health consequences of that be damned.
The whole method of dealing with “concerned citizens” was to politely rule in favor of their crony capitalist friends who sought nothing but increased profits from the ability to pollute. Sure, they held hearings for those impacted to vent but as long as they could stay in the comfort zones and not feel uneasy about their actions, the decision makers, usually mundane bureaucrats whom might actually resent being required to hear citizen complaints but are forced through the guise of good government to do so.
Somewhere along the line, I found the need to raise my voice. Once I had to have a shouting match with a State Senator from Kentucky who was trying to place a nuclear waste facility in my region. He had a PA system and I didn’t but I was still heard over his protestations so that people in attendance at least got an alternative version of the proposal.
At one point in my activism, I had to choose to do what I call “Active Civil Disobedience.” Most CD done in America is “passive,” meaning that someone climbs a fence and then gets carried away by the police, booked into jail and released in sort of a very polite ritual designed to show opposition to a war, industrial facility or project that will harm nature of wildlife.
By Active, I mean doing something that makes for good television but remains essentially no-violent and symbolic.
In my case, I absconded with the ground breaking, gold painted, shovels that company and government officials were supposed to use to break ground at a hazardous waste facility that few people in the region desired. I did not get far with the shovels, being tackled by two sheriffs as I ran to my getaway vehicle. It was a cold, middle of December day and the action elevated the issue in the public eye greatly, to the point that it was common discussion over most of the region’s Christmas dinners that year.
More importantly, it gained a great deal of personal respect toward me and why I would do such a thing. That respect still has some residual effect so that when I enter a room, even 39 years later, there is the question of “What’s he doing here and does he have something up his sleeve?”
Anger as a tactical strategy
While Civil Disobedience is certainly viable in most issues, it does require some amount of courage to pull off successfully and of course, it must always be non-violent if you want to maintain any sort of personal dignity.
Fortunately, there is an alternative. Using anger can be and usually is a way to success in whatever issue you are dealing with. In my case, it is always a matter of public health. My organization, Valley Watch, in southwestern Indiana has acquired a phenomenal record of success by using what I call “tactical anger.”
When you are polite and play the game as the other side wants you to, it is easy for them to dismiss everything they might hear from you. The hearing is over and they go home, have dinner and rest assured that their decision will not have any sort of consequences for them personally.
If someone is proposing to harm you through their emissions of pollution like, say, a known cancer causing agent, you have every right to be angry. In fact, you should be angry. That anger should not go unnoticed. The sponsors of the proposal as well as the people granting permission to pollute should feel your anger. One of the tactics I have used for years is to make my adversary start thinking of me as they attempt to fall asleep, not just a single night but often.
When I succeed in making them think about me when they are home safely in bed, that’s when I become confident of victory. If I can get under their skin sufficiently to make that happen, they will begin to make mistakes due to the emotional stress I have put upon them. Perhaps their conscience will come to play and they might even rethink their whole plan.
No one, not even someone who thinks only of profit, is immune to being the object of someone’s anger. You should not make them feel threatened by your passionate outrage but you do want them to have to deal with at least the same level of angst they are causing you.
I have observed that in numerous environmental health issues I have fought over the last forty years when my expressed anger was real and heartfelt. It has been my personal strategy to force my adversaries out of their comfort zone into a real world situation where they have to deal with me on a personal level whether or not I am in their presence.Time and again I have successfully projected my anger to a successful outcome when that anger is coupled with a decisive control of actual facts and sufficient research from credible sources.
It should be understood that using anger as a tactic will not gain you any friends. Colleagues and adversaries alike usually do not desire to be placed in the middle of some emotional confrontation designed to make one party feel guilt over what is going to cause harm, intended or otherwise. But remember, your friends will forgive you for being so adamant and your foes will disapprove but so what-if someone is trying their best to disrupt your life entirely or worse make you sick.
You not only are right to be pissed off, it is really your duty to your family and friends. Using that disgust to make an adversary uncomfortable hurts no one and can be effective in gaining a desired outcome.
If you need further proof of the power of anger, just look back to 2010 and the advent of the Tea Party. They were not docile at all, They openly expressed their anger at politicians they claimed were hurting Americans. Rightfully or wrongly, they were successful in forcing their congressional representatives to address the issue that made Tea Partiers mad, even to the point of forcing them from office. Yes, at times they were simply obnoxious but they won, flipping the congress and putting the entire world on notice that Tea Partiers were a force to reckon with.
As I previously stated, most people have zero desire to be an “angry citizen.” That is not the way we were brought up. But it is a wonderful tool that often brings success if properly employed. I would suggest practicing your tactical anger through role playing with colleagues so that you can see what facial expressions or volume of voices is likely to work best to achieve your goals. Role playing will help you moderate the tone of your outrage so that you do not cross that line where it becomes a negative instead of a positive.
Just remember that you have every right to be angry. It is your adversary that is doing you wrong, seeking to disrupt your life so they can seek to enrich themselves at you and your family’s expense.
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