Is anger the only motivation that can energize us to correct harmful situations? According to Buddhism, it is not. Compassion — the wish for others to be free from difficulties and confusion — is not only a powerful motivator, but also one that is more balanced, realistic, and effective than anger. . . .

For many years, I have lived in the Northwest part of the USA, where deforestation is commonplace. When it occurred near a retreat center our spiritual community regularly used, witnessing the deforestation was particularly painful, and some retreatants were hostile whenever a logging truck drove by. But a bumper-sticker saying "Hug a logger instead of a tree" made me think, "The loggers want to be happy and avoid suffering just like the deer they are displacing and the retreatants who miss the forest. Many of them probably do not like their work. I may disagree with the policies of the companies who employ them, but I don't need to hate either the CEOs or the loggers." Although I continued to sign anti-logging petitions and oppose deforestation, I began to wave to the loggers who drove by. Why not? They smiled and waved back.

Thubten Chodron, Working with Anger