Anger is a vehicle for breaking things, not building things… 

Anger is the enemy of non-violence and pride is a monster that swallows it up. ~Mahatma Gandhi

Anger may be useful for drawing attention to a problem, but no cause can be gained through anger. If you look at history, you’ll see that the lasting, beneficial changes came through forgiveness, compassion, and persistence.  Look at how these concepts helped democracy in South Africa and civil rights in America.  Anger has never made the world a better place. 

“There are some issues in our body politic where digging in your heals, demonizing the other side and screaming bloody epithets over the high fence won’t get you any closer to victory. Plenty of people have worked to find common ground, but the partisan bickering reinforces each position to the detriment of those in the middle who represent a powerful majoritiy.”  Source

At the same time, if you do your job properly, people will often surprise you by moving their focus quickly from their own immediate need to the more general principle at stake. Source

The following is from: The Activist’s Handbook: 1000 Ways to Politically and Socially Activate Your Life
It is time for people to become more active politically, socially and culturally. It is not enough to spend your entire life waiting to be entertained by the political rhetoric.
These are 1000 ways in which you can politically and socially activate your life:
The next time you’re with family or friends, discuss a particular cause, instead of letting the conversation drift to celebrity gossip.

Be mindful of the fact that the news channels synthesize events in ways which make the individual feel as if activism is hopeless.

Try to make friends that are politically involved, instead of maintaining the same old school friends.

Stay focused on one particular cause, it’s fine to take up many causes, but always recognize your main cause. Source

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Featured image by Jim Brandenburg