We are almost two years on from the effective collapse of the banks, yet, the anger about what has happened is still acute in our society. Just lately in Ireland there has been public outrage at the huge pensions enjoyed by some of our top politicians and bankers. In the UK there has been fury at the expenses claimed by the politicians. They are marching in the streets in Athens……….We seem to be in a permanent state of outrage.
So what do we do with all of our fury? Normally, when we can articulate our anger at the person we feel is responsible, the other responds and eventually we find a resolution. Apology might be involved but, the critical thing is we know who we are dealing with.
The difficulty with this recession is that we feel enraged but have no one person to focus and articulate that rage towards, and if we do focus on someone we cannot talk to them directly ourselves. The situation is so complex and involves so many layers of our society it is like pinning a jelly to the wall sorting out who is ‘to blame’. We are asked to think of the future and face changes in our own wage packets without feeling that we have established that most important of things; a recognition by the other that the consequence of their actions has effected us badly.
I think the leadership we all crave is centred on this issue. We need someone to recognise our sense of betrayal, articulate it, channel it towards the right people and bring about some sort of healing. Without this process it is hard for us to move on as a society. As human beings, we need restoration through the recognition that our actions have consequences for others, the need for us to take personal responsibility for this and then act on that fact. Apology may be part of that but, more critically the process itself can lead to important healing on both sides.
As long as our leaders don’t find a way to facilitate this process we will have this societal anger to deal with.