Don't Get [MAD] Get Even!

Am I MAD as Hell? Sure, you bet I am! Hell, I'm Mad as Hell that some fictional news anchor who couldn't even make up his mind whether or not he should kill himself, and was so clearly and easily influenced by any force stronger than himself that he wound up adopting a nicely packaged corporatized version of reality, has become some sort of iconic symbol of protest. Jesus H. Christ on a Popsicle stick! There is a profound difference between opening up your window and sticking your head out and shouting "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" and actually doing something that shows your not going to take it anymore. Sure, it may be cathartic to offer up such postured protest, but what the hell does screaming "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" actually accomplish?

Let's be clear here. Even though Paddy Chayefsky's brilliant screenplay was quite disturbing in its prescience, and predicted the dog and pony show that media would soon become, when people are hanging "mad as hell" posters on their wall's, or wearing this slogan on their T-shirts, this is no different than those clowns who hang Sheperd Fairey Obama Hope posters on their wall and wear Che Guevera T-shirts as if this some how makes them a revolutionary. As if Che Guevera was some sort of New York bohemian who lived in a Brownstone apartment building with hip exposed brick underneath mauve dry wall, sipping cappuccino's below his Laurence Bradshaw portrait of Karl Marx, wearing a Trotsky T-shirt. Chayefsky was not suggesting that protest was a powerful form of change, quite the opposite, he was suggesting we are all buffoons helplessly influenced by the media we have so lovingly become addicted to. As if Barak Obama is some sort of anti-establishment revolutionary. Sigh.

Am I mad as hell? You bet I am, but what the hell is getting mad going to accomplish? People can get mad at Wall Street for being a thinly veiled gambling casino, or people can get mad at the corruption of government officials, but this is tantamount to getting mad at an infant for crying, or getting mad at a bee for buzzing, or getting mad at a dog for barking. Anger is a dangerous emotion to operate under. Few, if any, strong strategies were made under anger, or rage. The effective strategies are those planned while operating under rational thought, which is a far cry from any emotional outburst.

If people want to be mad, I certainly understand, as I said, I am mad as hell too, and I am not taking it anymore. However, my not taking it anymore has meant standing tall and accepting the consequences of not acquiescing to tyranny. Does anyone honestly believe that all it takes to make a tyrant go away is to open up their window and scream at the top of their lungs that they're "mad as hell and not going to take it anymore"? Obviously countless people - some would argue 99% of the population - clearly believe that the best way to deal with tyranny is to "occupy" the streets and protest, as if this protest is some sort of demand instead of what it really is, which is really just asking tyrants to play fair. Sigh.

The struggles I go through daily in refusing to acquiesce to the tyranny of the state, the tyranny of the majority, and the tyranny of ignorant is more than daunting, it is more than overwhelming, it is flat out overbearing, and I would not wish the pain and suffering I experience on my worst enemy, let alone good and decent people who just want justice. However, if we as individuals are ever going to reestablish justice, then we are going to have to be willing to do more than just get mad as hell. We are going to have to be willing to get even. To level the playing field, which should not be construed as some sort of Marxist agenda, but instead a simple call for individuals to embrace the free and open market that has always existed. Some would call that free and open market the "black market" but those doing so are either tyrants or sycophants of tyrants. Level the playing field by actually breaking free from the shackles of slavery and just being free.

Since we're here based upon a scene from a film, I would like to suggest another scene from the Star Trek film Wrath of Khan, where Captain Kirk reveals how it was he beat the Kobayashi Maru computer simulation. Some would say he "cheated" by reprogramming the computer simulation which was programmed as a no win scenario, but that in itself is a cheat because the only way to have a no win scenario is to manufacture one. Kirk's response to this was what I call the Captain Kirk principle that states: When the rules work against you, change the rules!

The rules to any game do not exist to ensure than one player wins and the rest loose. The rules to any game are designed to ensure competition can prevail. I am mad as hell, dare I say we are all mad as hell because the rules of the game have been rigged. We are all - or most of us - confronted with a no win scenario. The only reasonable strategy to such a circumstance is to change the rules. Don't get mad, get even!

Clever, from the title to the finish.

S&F

Quality rant JP
SandF
(star for the title alone, LOL)

Very well said, but i hesitate to say 'getting even' is the right way to go. Balance is something that the universe achieves on its own, and while we are able to witness this, is it our place to attempt to control it?

I believe it will simply cause a rift, a divide. The fact that our earth is polarized into two categories, those that are sheep and those that are not, leads me to believe further that our earth is going through a phase similar to cell division.

How does a cell break into two balanced parts? It divides itself down the middle. What causes the divide? The will of the individual cell, or the outside influences coupled with the inner influences that creates and destroys at the same time?

Part of me feels that having the ability to accept whatever is thrown your way, is better than having the ability to attempt to construct a pattern outside of nature that will inevitably fail....

EDIT: The ability to genuinely not let anything agitate you is something that you grow, just like an animal grows a shell. Our emotions can follow a similar pattern.

Thank you both boncho and danbones for your generous remarks. To chadderson:

It is a mistake to assume that any human action is unnatural and at odds with the universe. A rigged game is a manufactured human creation and the universe will only correct this rigged game by accepting that it can only be humans that fix the failures of other human creations. The Leaning Tower of Pisa will not be straightened by the "universe" under your paradigm. Unsightly graffiti will not be whitewashed by the "universe" under your paradigm, and a broken window will not be replaced by the "universe" under your paradigm. I am not suggesting that the Leaning Tower of Pisa be straightened, or that all graffiti be whitewashed, or even that all broken windows be replaced, but if the universe is to correct these flaws, that universe will do so through human effort.

Obviously countless people - some would argue 99% of the population - clearly believe that the best way to deal with tyranny is to "occupy" the streets and protest, as if this protest is some sort of demand instead of what it really is, which is really just asking tyrants to play fair. Sigh.

You have yet to fail me, you know that? I always enjoy your writing S&F.

I loved the whole thing, but the above quote was one of my faves....especially the *sigh* at the end....it had such a sarcastic, yet honest quality to it.

Best of luck in the competition!

S&F !

Loved it.

I sometimes think there is a rule,to changing the rule,and you cant change "that" rule,without changing this "other" rule.................

Oh,Hell......

Forget it!!

One rule?

Common sense.

I am mad as hell that JPZ writes posts so long and makes me have to read and think.

I am so going to get even one of these days.

Originally posted by neo96
I am mad as hell that JPZ writes posts so long and makes me have to read and think.

I am so going to get even one of these days.

I only wish I could Hold My Concentration that long S & F.
I Guess I'll never get even,,,,,,, I'll Always try,,,,,,,, What Was I Thinking Again?

reply to post by Jean Paul Zodeaux


i don't understand the post.

can someone clarify please?

Originally posted by Jean Paul Zodeaux
As if Che Guevera was some sort of New York bohemian who lived in a Brownstone apartment building with hip exposed brick underneath mauve dry wall, sipping cappuccino's below his Laurence Bradshaw portrait of Karl Marx, wearing a Trotsky T-shirt.

I think that putz would be too busy agitating at Occupy where they would eventually turn him in to the Federales and he would try to go states evidence.

Originally posted by SoymilkAlaska
reply to post by Jean Paul Zodeaux

 

i don't understand the post.

can someone clarify please?

Very simple, put your money where your mouth is. You know what happens when you cry wolf.

Nothing

reply to post by Mijamija


Thank you my friend, for your kind words and taking the time to read my work. It is always a thrill to see someone single out something I wrote and spoken to.

reply to post by sonnny1


Sonny, as always it is nice to see you and thanks for taking time out of your own busy efforts in the Short Story forum to read my own.

reply to post by neo96


Neo, it is always a thrill hanging out with you in various threads, and I am most grateful you waded through my sea of verbiage here in this thread.

reply to post by guohua


You're input is always valued, my friend. Thank you.

reply to post by AugustusMasonicus


It's nice to see you Augustus. That little Che Guevera crack is actually my favorite line from this story.

reply to post by Aquarius1


Bingo!

As always great writing from you.

No real revolution will be a legal act.
That's why we can only hope for change.

Originally posted by Jean Paul Zodeaux

[ETA:I've edited this a dozen times now.. sorry to anyone who was reading it..! ]

That was a thought provoking read so I'd like to share with you some of the ideas i had while reading it.. I've got a tsunami of info to get through and only a stream of consciousness writing style to deliver it with so bear with me if you will.. decryption may be necessary...

Anger is an energy & a powerful one. Energy can be transformed rather then simply ceasing to exist. Some energy is easier to form then other energy; and it's subjective from person to person. When I say anger is an energy, how many times have you been able to sleep while angry? its not a pleasant energy but it does keep you charged so to speak. So if you're already angry and you hate being angry then you can use that hatred of hatred itself to motivate you to look for the changes that need to be made so you can avoid repeating whatever sequence got you to the point where you became angry, and not have to do that again. turn it back on itself, transform it or even release it in a physical way. If you're angry and can't relax so you choose to expel the energy by doing exercise or martial arts which leads to the positive outcomes of better health & mental discipline then how could you say that the anger you felt was still a negative thing? or perhaps better to say it was but that you took it and made something positive from it, also enabling the positive & calm state of being & mindset necessary to properly tackle the problem or events that caused you to feel that anger in the first place.

I believe that the real thing of importance is first know emotions are chemical compounds that by their very design cause you to do a great deal of things you always blamed yourself for as somehow a failing of personality or something, well no its just called being a human. now forget that because life isn't about reducing beautiful things into raw atoms its about getting emotionally involved on this theme park ride we like to call the human experience. Now that we've got the 2 prefacing points down & forgotten the thing of importance is to know what each emotion is useful for and when to use it and how, and also when, what & how it is not useful, and in the cases where its a detriment, how to tame them or shift from one to the next. doing that enable less inner turmoil and can give you a ladder set up ahead of time for when life throws you in a hole... but it usually seems to be a lesson that is learnt slowly through life rather then all at once.. and finally I think its about balance rather then rejecting one over the other. For e.g. if there were only 2 colours in the world, black & white, and you took one of them away, you would not know the other existed. This too is also like the importance of living in the moment, but that not to reject thoughts of the past & future completely & forever, or else you wouldn't know you existed at all... also public displays of anger may lead to the bumper sticker t-shirt & poster bandwagoners but they exist everywhere with everything and aren't exclusive to this hypothetical movement or caused by it, and you would still see the positive effect of your passionate angry outburst causing a handful who heard it to start asking questions & learn some truths.. so even if you can't find a positive outcome from your anger for yourself sometimes it can create a positive outcome for others...... so I think that anger can & does change things for the better, if you know how to use it...but its chaotic and unpredictable which can make it hard to control & dangerous too so I agree it is best to be avoided.. I think I'm just saying that if you do get angry there are ways to use it for the better...

so those are my thoughts anyway.. I'm interested to read what you make of them
peace.. S&F..