“Frustration is the
underside of desire. It's an important part of the human arrangement because
it's the thing that makes us realize that we must use patience and persistence
to the things that evade us. Our frustration level in America is incredibly high,
which is a result of a consumer culture dedicated entirely to instant
gratification. We’re constantly being shown the dangling, beautiful fruits of
capitalism; we're exposed to advertising where we get exactly what we want. So,
as a result, we’re ready to murder each other because of traffic jams or punch
each other out over a burger and fries.” —American short-story writer and
essayist Steve Almond quoted in “Soapbox: The Columnists; WSJ. Asks Five
Luminaries To Weigh in on Single Topic; This Month: Frustration,” WSJ.
Magazine, August 2018
The image accompanying
this post illustrates the explosive consequences of the frustration that Almond
describes: Michael Douglas’ commuter D-Fens in the 1993 film Falling Down,
who starts a murder spree after getting stuck in traffic on the way to his daughter’s
birthday party.
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