The Participation Blog

Anger Fixes Problems

Public anger is a fact of life in America today and most of those who work with the public are fully aware of that. We teach those people how to effectively engage with communities and deal with omnipresent opposition and anger. It’s often assumed that anger is a bad thing and needs to be thwarted – we need to prevent people from displaying it. But it’s much more complicated than that. Anger is a normal part of us; it’s woven into the fabric of democracy, it motivates people, it prompts us to chase solutions to tough challenges, and our goal in dealing with angry people and opponents is working with and channeling those feelings to productive ends.