I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!

Mad as Hell? We Should Be! Time to Rewrite the Rules

Have you ever felt a creeping sense of déjà vu that hangs heavy in the air? Like a scratched record playing on repeat, a glitch in the Matrix where history seems trapped in a loop, spitting out the same tired problems with a fresh coat of paint. The economy crumbles, existential threats loom, bubbles burst, corruption festers, scandals erupt, and the drums of war beat a familiar rhythm.

These echoes resonate across the ages, as Tony Benn aptly observed: “Every generation must fight the same battles again and again. There’s no final victory and there’s no final defeat.” But a nagging question festers: are we cursed to keep repeating those same old-tiered mistakes? Why can’t we learn? Why do we keep fighting these age-old battles, leaving millions as casualties in a perpetual class war?

Margaret Thatcher’s infamous “There Is No Alternative” feels more like a cruel joke. Deep down, We, the people, know there must be a better way. We just need to break free from the chains. As the saying goes, the fact is: “If you keep doing the same thing, you’ll keep getting the same results and that’s gotta stop”

But here’s the kicker? We haven’t just witnessed these problems unfold from one failing government to another; we’ve been warned. We’ve seen the charade play out before. The same tired politicians peddle the same tired solutions, clinging to a rigged system. Have we forgotten the lessons of history, both real and fictional?

Look at films like Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” or in this case, “Network,” from 1976, mind you, to do so is like peering into a warped crystal ball only to see today reflected in yesteryear. Peter Finch, that magnificent curmudgeon, channels Howard Beale, a news anchor on the brink. Ratings are plummeting, and in a desperate bid for attention, he explodes on air, a litany of frustrations spilling out like pus from a lanced wound. He screams, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!” – a rallying cry that cuts deeper than it should for a film made nearly half a century ago.

And here we are, living in the dystopian reality Beale foreshadowed – a world saturated with reality TV, a media landscape obsessed with ratings at all costs, a cheapened version of journalism masquerading as truth. It’s enough to make a cynic choke on his own bile.

The answer, then, doesn’t lie solely with them. It lies with us, the sleepwalking masses. When will we wake up? When will we stop electing the same tired faces and demand a genuine change in the game?

We all know power never concedes power: In a landscape dominated by the entrenched powers of the political elite, true change can only be achieved through holding those in authority accountable. Genuine democracy hinges on electing representatives who prioritise the needs of the people over vested interests and while the first-past-the-post system has its merits, it fails when both horses in that race belong to the same masters.

True representation is a mirage, with only the interests of the ruling class being served. For Parliament to fulfil its purpose as the House of Commons, it must embody a diverse spectrum of political ideologies, united in their commitment to advancing the collective welfare of the populace. It is, after all, the House of Commons, designed to serve the interests of the common people.

Perhaps, like Howard Beale, we need a cathartic explosion, a moment of raw, unfiltered outrage to break the spell. Maybe then, just maybe, we’ll finally get up, throw open the window, and yell, not just in anger, but in a demand for something better. “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” – a primal scream that heralds a genuine awakening.

But until then, the cycle continues, a grim reminder that the fight for a better future is a constant struggle, a Sisyphean task that demands vigilance and, yes, even a healthy dose of righteous anger.

Words alone won’t move mountains. But the ballot box offers a powerful tool for change. In the next election, consider voting for emerging parties that offer fresh perspectives. For some, independence might be the answer. Regardless of your choice, remember: whatever you do vote for change.

Media Lies & Reality TV: Is This the Future We Deserve?

I’m Mad As Hell! Transcript…

“I don’t have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It’s a depression. Everybody’s out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel’s worth, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there’s nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there’s no end to it.

We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV’s while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that’s the way it’s supposed to be. We know things are bad – worse than bad. They’re crazy.

It’s like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don’t go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, ‘Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms.

Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won’t say anything. Just leave us alone.’ Well, I’m not gonna leave you alone.

I want you to get mad! I don’t want you to protest. I don’t want you to riot – I don’t want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn’t know what to tell you to write. I don’t know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street.

All I know is that first you’ve got to get mad. You’ve got to say, ‘I’m a HUMAN BEING, God damn it! My life has VALUE!’ So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window.

Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, ‘I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!’ I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell – ‘I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!’ Things have got to change.

But first, you’ve gotta get mad!… You’ve got to say, ‘I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!’

Then we’ll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it:

“I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!”

– Peter Finch as Howard Beale