Let's start a conversation on Hate.
Our world is beset with people engaged in beheadings,
suicide bombings and other forms of mayhem.
World leaders strive to wipe groups “off the map.” What is it that attracts these people to
Hate?
The rest of us need some guidance. What is Hate?
How does one teach Hate? What are
the specifics?
I’ll provide a quick primer.
Hate has two specific qualities:
--It must
involve intensely negative characterizations.
--It must
be directed at an identity group.
That means a person who says, “You are a racist!” is using
an intensely negative characterization, but it is directed at an individual,
not an identity group. It is not Hate.
A person who says, “I don’t appreciate how Fundamentalists
view the right to life!” is taking a specific stance. It is not a characterization, even though the
remark is directed at an identity group.
To be Hate, both of these elements – an identity group and a
negative characterization – must be in place.
That means a person who says, “Christians deserve to die!”
is expressing Hate.
A group chanting, “Power to the killers of cops!” is
expressing Hate.
But if we understand the examples of Hate, what do we do
about it?
There were a couple of techniques used during the recent elections
of 2014 that can shed some light on this.
Here in Colorado, the campaign of Senator Mark Udall spent a significant
amount of time running ads depicting Cory Gardner as a threat to women. In Iowa, Joni Ernst was subject to a “war on
women” accusation.
The Gardner and Ernst campaigns give us examples of two
anti-Hate techniques:
--Trivialization
--Elevated
Associations
Joni Ernst used the “Trivialization” technique to deflect the
characterizations. Her response was, “I
am a woman, and I have been to war. This
is not war.” She called upon her
personal experience to trivialize the accusation.
Cory Gardner used the “Elevated Associations”
technique. He ran ads counter to the “threat
on women” accusation, indicating he supported making birth control pills
available over-the-counter rather than by prescription. When voters saw Mark Udall characterizing
Cory Gardner as a threat to women, they were reminded of the ad making birth
control an over-the-counter product. The
negative characterization was elevated to a positive association for Congressman
Gardner.
If you see the characterization of Republicans as a threat
to women being a component of Hate, you aren’t far off the mark. The characterization is “negative,” if not
“intensely negative.” The application of
the characterization only to Republicans makes it against an identity group. It might be considered “politics as usual,”
but the elements of Hate are there.
That brings us to the Teachers of Hate. As noted above, Authoritarians are drawn to Hate
because it is an extremely effective way to influence people. If you can teach people to hate, you are able
to control them. When people believe all
their problems are caused by a particular identity group, they will endure
unbelievable hardship for a given cause.
Who are the Teachers of Hate? There are a multitude of candidates from around
the world, but I will highlight a few from American politics. Herewith, the Teachers of Hate:
Arquette, Patricia - Film and television actress.
02/22/2015 - Republicans are a threat to women.
Arquette, Patricia - Film and television actress.
02/22/2015 - Republicans are a threat to women.
Cohen,
Steve – U. S. Representative from Tennessee’s CD-9.
01/19/2010
– Republicans
are liars.
DeGette,
Diana – U. S. Representative from Colorado’s CD-1.
03/21/2010
– Republicans
are killers.
Olbermann,
Keith – Sports and political commentator.
02/24/2010
– Republicans
are sub-human.
Sanchez,
Loretta – U. S. Representative from California’s CD-46.
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