A broken cup and saucer on a wooden floor. Alabama government has a long history of targeting marginalized people. (Soren Hald/Getty Images)
You probably know what a rage room is. People fork over cash and spend time destroying household items, like dishes and furniture cabinets.
They’re marketed as stress relief. But getting violent isn’t a path toward tranquility. It just encourages you to be violent.
Smash a plate or a teacup or a TV as much as you want. It might feel like you’ve released something. But that’s not calm. It’s a fleeting sense of power, easily confused with catharsis.
And one destructive outburst feels normal. An appropriate way to manage frustration, whatever comes in its way. The rage you thought you exorcized becomes fuel for still more violent sallies.
Alabama’s leaders may not be throwing folding chairs or screaming like a professional wrestler circa 1984. But anger is a key component of our politics.
The state government is bad at a lot of its duties. It can’t give teachers the resources needed to educate children. It can’t protect incarcerated people from murder and assault. It uses every euphemism for “cheap labor” to hide the fact that there is little else to appeal to business here.