In an Unjust World, What Do I Do with My Anger as an INFP…

“Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage”

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As institutionalized corruption increases at exponential rates how do we process injustice? Our money is becoming worthless, customer service is dead, prices on everything rise faster than wages, taxes are astronomical, healthcare systems are run by thieves, government fraud is rampant, products are intentionally built to fail, family and social ties are unraveling, ethics and morality have been replaced with survival of the fittest, ownership has been replaced with subscriptions, children are a luxury, total surveillance is the norm, privacy is non-existent, AI is promoted as a job terminator to strip humans of dignity, and politicians at even the lowest levels refuse to allow their constituents to speak or give feedback. Any attempt to address corporate or government abuse ends in a futile circle of common citizens complaining to other common citizens who “represent” the untouchable oligarchs for a meager wage paid in a dying currency. In a world like this what do we do with our rage? As The Smashing Pumpkins put it “Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage”.

Fight or Flight?

In the face of this societal collapse does one fight, flee, hide, or do all three? As an INFP my anger is too intense to stay engaged. I’ll take steps to safeguard my future where I can but the intensity of my emotions are too great for me to properly regulate while staying engaged with these society destroying systems. What frustrates me is I consider myself to be an emotionally healthy individual. I had a great childhood with married parents and a stay-at-home mom, and I have a long happy marriage with kids, a graduate degree, a house, and a good career. If our society reflected the norms and economics of the 80s, 90s, and 00s I would have a fairly peaceful and low worry life. Even in these times, I’m extremely blessed compared to most people, yet I can’t shake the feeling that it will all be ripped away by oligarchs and government who will blame some “catastrophe” that they themselves secretly created.

The Comfort of the Fi/Si Loop

I can’t get past the signs of impending societal doom that is coming. My response now is to try and disconnect as much as possible from interacting with corporations, the government, and news, and live in the moment as much as I can. It’s difficult though when my extroverted intuition (Ne), which is supposed to be a positive stabilizing force that balances my intense introverted feelings (Fi), only sees a future of doom. Sadly, going into an introverted feeling (Fi) and introverted sensing (Si) loop is the primary way I reduce my anger. Sticking to comfort movies, music, books, food, and nature is the best escape until I can process this anger at what oligarchs, politicians, and bureaucrats have done to our world.

Fi is Not Good at Taking Care of a Tribe

What I’ve also found to be hard, as an INFP who is responsible for a family, is that Fi is self-focused. Fi is great at taking care of oneself and being independent but it’s not good at taking care of a tribe. If I was single, it would be easier to disengage and preserve my calm but as the sole provider for a family of four, I don’t have that luxury. I can’t uproot and escape into a secluded rural life. I must stay and fight to hold my ground and attempt to give my family a chance. This is my challenge, to preserve my calm in the midst of a war for my family’s life and soul. The uncertainty is the hardest part, I almost wish for the collapse of society to just happen soon so we can move on, but waiting for the rug to be pulled out is torturous.

Enjoy the Present

What makes my intense feelings even more frustrating is I already have the logical, psychological, theological, and spiritual framework to deal with this challenge but I’ve yet to fully translate it into practical peace. I know my ultimate future is set and is victorious, yet I still cling to fleeting possessions and comfort. Even though I know how the story will end the pages in between scare me. I’m grieving the loss of the society I grew up in as well as proactively grieving loss that is yet to come. This obsession with the past and future is robbing me of the joy of the present. I think that is the struggle for INFPs with our trickster extroverted sensing (Se), it’s hard for us to live in the present. What do we do with this anger, fear, and anxiety that is fed by our intuition that sees a crumbling world around us? Ultimately, we must let our introverted feeling (Fi) do its work and process these emotions. We must feel the pain, grieve the loss, and accept what is, so we can move on, enjoy the moment, and rebuild the world.

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