There has been something troubling me recently. It's not a big thing, just something I have noticed. It is a lack of aggression where aggression could be considered necessary. It sometimes seems like everyone is so intent on being good and not harming others that they will go through an unreasonable amount of garbage so as not to trouble the person on the other end of the link. While this is nice and considerate and all that, it doesn't strike me as particularly healthy when done too often.

In my understanding, it is more helpful, and healthful as well, to give a voice to problems, especially when someone else could do something to alleviate them. It helps the self by easing the hardships one must go through. It also helps the other person by allowing them to see problems (whether those be problems in general or specifically their problems) and thereby work to eliminate such problems in the future.

One of the things I hear too much recently is a phrase that I have grown to despise. Nearly everyone in my dorm has some kind of psychosis and they voice it in the phrase, `it's all good.' I really abhor that phrase. It doesn't sit well with me. Maybe I am just another cynic, but if everything was good we wouldn't be poisoning the world, hurting our brothers and sisters for a buck, tormenting those we `love' with sadistic pleasure, or torturing ourselves for that matter, locking down our subconscious like a noisy dog shut in a cage.

I think that the more people say it to themselves the worse off they might be. Well, maybe I am going a little too far, but sometimes I really feel like that. Happiness is a good thing, don't get me wrong. I love it just as much as the next man, and I would gladly die defending a friend's happiness. Maybe saying that everything is good is just a mantra people vocalize, repeating it in hopes of setting up energies that will bring the thought into reality.

If that is the case then I can find no fault with it. But I'm afraid I can't quite swallow that line. Not when I see people's rage explode into those close to them. For example, someone I know repeats this little phrase, keeping a smile etched on his face. For the most part, yes, he does seem pretty happy. But when he wants something and it isn't right there... look out! I've heard him speaking with his father about things he wants (wants, mind you, nothing life threatening here...) and when he starts having a hard time getting it, he demands, loudly. He berates his own family to get what he wants, how can that be all good? And he can get so frustrated at such times...

I cannot stand that phrase because it seems too false. It sounds like the ship owner who convinces himself the ship is seaworthy so that he won't have to make repairs. And when the ship sinks at sea, killing all aboard, he convinces himself that it was some freak accident, but no fault of his own.

That phrase makes me think that those who say it are just trying to convince themselves. It sounds like denial of the bad things in life, which are not just going to go away. If we want that to happen, we must work towards it, not just wish it away. Anyway, I've satisfied my sense of outrage and am much more content for the moment.

I've just got one more little thing to say. Aggression is a tool, it is a drive forward to grasp life. Like any tool it can be perverted by those who lack an understanding of its proper uses. As a fellow who loves the fire in life I have to say, don't deny aggressiveness, understand it. Learn to use it responsibly and respect it. I, for one, couldn't live without it.