We have become a nation of screamers, of yellers, of I’m Louder Than Youers.

Now there is much about which we can rage. Yet rage unresolved is a poison to the body, mind and soul. The escalating rage of our time, unlike that of past eras that actually led to positive change, is tearing our nation apart. And its cauldron is politics.

In the political arena, everyone seems to be utterly furious, and that’s because almost everyone speaking on any political platform and in public is. Perhaps some are choosing to present themselves as loud and nasty so they will not be perceived as weak. They don’t get a pass for faking it, as they too are fueling the fire. 

From elected leaders to private citizens, we are having one horrible, ever-escalating National Hate Fest.

Yet high on the charts right now is “Calm Down,” a love song. Calming down should be a must for all of us as we go into yet another fractious presidential election while a former president and leading candidate is being charged with serious crimes. 

We could all do with letting in a little love to quell our darker passions. 

There’s no doubt that anger as a response is often justifiable and beneficial. Anger fostered incredible social changes in this country, including workers’ rights, environmental protections and the feminist, peace and civil rights movements.

But we seem to be trapped in a gerbil wheel of rage. There’s certainly more than enough to cause anger, but surely any emotion should be constructive when it goes beyond the immediate human reaction. 

Clearly the current cacophony is only creating a Tower of Babel, where citizens who disagree agree that everyone who disagrees with them is disagreeable in language that is incoherent to those they oppose.

We are a nation divided as we have not been since the war that brought us into the bloodiest battles of our history on our own soil. Antietam Creek ran red with the blended blood of brothers and those once united under one flag.

And even if we don’t go to arms, we are still destroying the best of what we can be as individuals and as a nation.

In an age where there are more outlets for communication than ever, we have failed to communicate effectively, constructively and thoughtfully with each other. Even the best of us resort to sound bites. 

There are a multitude of reasons for the ascendancy of this Babel of our own making. But each of us has it in our power to bring the tower down by trying our utmost not to be “mad as Hell and not taking it anymore,” and calming down. Deep breaths. Then listen without judgment, hard though it might be. Get past the talking points and the slogans.

Ask your neighbor, who may not vote as you do, what they really want, and you might find there is in fact a common language. And if there isn’t, try not to bend to the impulse that they are complete idiots. Because that in its way is idiotic. It achieves nothing except self-satisfaction and alienation. 

Dialogue, not drama, please.

Cynthia Nash lives and writes here and in Morningside Heights, NYC.