Aggression

What is the basis of aggression? I believe there are two main sources.

The first is a natural developmental stage of young souls. It is discovering their power and the adrenaline surge of learning that you have power. This is the stage where they follow a cause and feel the elation of being part of a mob. It could be nationalism, rebellion, or just being member of a gang. They identify with the group and want to be part of something. This adrenaline surge drives them into aggression.

Leaders play on this to enlist soldiers. They sell a cause, offer an opportunity to exert your power and shape this aggression into a weapon. The soldier becomes addicted to the adrenaline surges and looks for their next hit. You see this in careers such as police and emergency services, armed forces, marketing and sales. It is on the stock exchange, in the boardroom, and any place where aggression is the energy used to win. People have a cause and get an adrenaline hit from following that cause. They become addicted, because they cannot walk away, but seek the next opportunity and go into withdrawals. It eventually takes its toll, and they become burned out by the cause, but whilst they are young and aggressive, they feel powerful.

This aggression comes from joy and passion and is uplifting. It has no sense of consequences, as it is a surge in power and not pre-meditated. It is the sense of power from being a force of nature, destroying what is in your path, and feeling like a god in the process.

The second source is frustration and anger. It is when you do not feel heard or seen and it becomes unbearable. This is a reaction to the way you have been treated. It is when you have been bullied, manipulated, suppressed, rejected, neglected, harmed in some way and had your power taken away from you. It is the force that takes back your power, or at least tries even when it is self-destructive.

This aggression comes from the darkness, from pain and suffering. It is an expression and projection of that pain onto others. It is possibly more malevolent, as it can lead into revenge. It thrives on release of the pain and celebrates the harm it has caused. There may be remorse afterwards, but this is suppressed with justification.

When you have a mob of any kind, there is a combination of the two. There is the part of the crowd that feel the elation of being part of a group and fighting for a cause. Some may be happy with just chanting slogans and marching as a group, feeling the elation of identifying with others. Some take this to a physical level needing to express their power in action. But there are those that have joined the group because they are angry and this is an opportunity to express their anger in anonymity. They may also agree with the cause, or not, it is not important. They want the opportunity to vent their frustrations.

In fact, there may be a combination of the two in the one person. The person may begin to fight for a cause, believe that they are doing something good, and then a darkness comes over them and they become aggressive and excessive. This is a release of their frustration and anger, and a power surge at the same time. They can become addicted to taking back their power through fighting causes. You can see this in activists and advocates who go to great lengths to win, not caring who they harm along the way. It could be an old pain being triggered such as the police triggering the memory of a dictatorial and abusive father.

Aggression may be the tone of voice, body language, verbal or physical. It is the expression of power. This may come from a natural growth of a young soul, or from internal pain. Either way, it is harmful to others as it takes away their power and makes them feel threatened.

Power and energy can be expressed in many ways. Ghandi showed that you can express your power without aggression. This is demonstrated today in peaceful protests. You express your power in your vote, when you abstain from participating in abusive behaviour, when you use boundaries to block others from taking advantage of you.