some of you saw something on TV today, or maybe it was social media, or a news website. it was a grave injustice. truly unconscionable. evil and malicious in its casual disregard for human life and dignity. you got angry. righteous anger. it was thrilling to feel that way.

what you saw didn't happen in your community. it happened somewhere else. you know, on some level, that injustice also occurs in your own community but you're not so sure what exactly is occurring. you don't often look for it.

when you find it in your own community you don't feel that righteous kind of anger. there's no thrill in it. you feel crushed and powerless instead. you feel drained and helpless. it's depressing so you learned to stop looking and just accept it.

when you do express righteous anger in your own community you aren't praised for it the way you're praised for it when it's some other community. instead, people feel threatened by you. they back off. socially isolate you.

it's subtle. nobody confronts you about it. they just stop calling you. you get invited to fewer events than you used to. sometimes, over drinks, someone slips that there was some talk about you behind your back. you learn not to express righteous anger about your own community.

so then you turn the TV (or social media, or news website) back on because you're angry and you want a way to feel that way that doesn't have consequences for you. that it doesn't have consequences for anyone else is besides the point.

I bet you think this thread is about you. It's not. This thread is about me.