The Future Of Hate

Alex Jones protesting in Dallas, TX. Photo by Sean P. Anderson.

We’ve spent five years watching hate destroy relationships, prosperity, reason, decency and history. It would seem like the obvious response would be to not foster more of it or nurture its existence.

Promoting hatred does not have a positive outcome. Not simply because it is negative, but because it negates rational behavior. There are people and actions that most find horrific and repulsive. Let’s choose the easy example of child rapists. Those are people that even NAMBLA and the Westboro Baptist Church – two groups I find loathsome – condemn. Hating child rapists does nothing to end their actions, however; what does that is the rational procedures of demonizing the actions in public, counseling those who might find it appealing, learning to recognize the signs that it may have occurred, prosecuting the criminals, and meting out punishment as a deterrence to others. Hate doesn’t enter into that chain of events, but simply holds back the rapid implementation of effective countermeasures.

Hate does fuel reactions. On the one hand, it pushes people away… hate rides with anger and outrage and destruction and many do not want to be associated with that. Faced with a group which is suffused with hatred, they will simply leave or refuse to join the group. This diminishes the potential gains which may be made by the group. On the other hand, it fuels a sense of power which can be addictive; the seduction of perceived righteousness which tells people that they are better, smarter, and wiser than others. This can attract people to a group, particularly those who are seeking acceptance within a community. As their point of commonality is hatred, however, that group can only ultimately be destructive.

We’ve seen this with Trump. An icon of hatred, every principle ever claimed by those who have rallied behind him has been shed in favor of continued burning anger…. whether at “libs”, “Mexicans”, “Chinese”, “NeverTrumpers” or anyone else. The targets don’t matter, merely the hate, because hate provides the sense of power and self-worth.

Fighting back against Trump with hate of our own is a strategy of failure. It will not work, period. Rather we must reach out to those who have burned away their principles and provide them new ones… preferably, in my mind, akin to those they used to claim to hold, but ultimately any principles will suffice in our efforts to resurrect the decency within our citizenry.

Renouncing hatred is going to be difficult, because Trump is going to do everything he can to hold on to his power base, fueling belief in hatred and conspiracy among those who will take him seriously. But the task of freeing those within his sphere of influence appears much more difficult than it actually will be, because of what the future holds. The corrective action, including drawing most of the Trump faithful back from Trumpism, can be fairly easy… and I’ll address that tomorrow.

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About AlienMotives 1991 Articles
Ex-Navy Reactor Operator turned bookseller. Father of an amazing girl and husband to an amazing wife. Tired of willful political blindness, but never tired of politics. Hopeful for the future.