But if this is true, are not acts of murder, rape, arson, mayhem, and assault also the fulfillment of our violent nature? If we are not critical of nation-states for mobilizing destructive tendencies, why should we punish individuals who engage in similarly motivated actions? Indeed, why do we heap the severest of punishments on those who do, individually, what we so blithely accept when done – in greater numbers – by political systems? The answer to this question is found in the psychological practice of projection, a phenomenon about which I have written on numerous occasions. We are uncomfortable with … Continue reading XXXVII – The War Against Anger