I often talk about why hate and those who support hate are a serious risk to our democracy. While on the top of our nation we talk about democracy and freedom in very high end abstract terms (
I do this as well so its normal and in many ways beneficial) most of these people have no idea what its like in our communities where hate has often become fashionable among certain clans. The lifestyles of those with resources are very different then the lifestyles of the average (
I have lived in top zip codes and bottom zip codes and there are worlds of differences. One can't really describe the other unless you have lived for some time in both.)
(Its hard to blame many politicians and officials who don't understand hate because many/most were raised with resources, in the right crowds, and with lots of support. They don't really have the same connection to what happens on a ground level with real people trying to make ends meet. You can sort of see that with our politics where people are treating politics like a personal game when lots of people live on the outcome of that tit for tat Monopoly spin.)
(Sorry I digress. I'm not a hate supporter and I'm completely confused on why hate has become acceptable and in many ways supported by large groups of people. I'm even more confused about how to find a solution because it relies on the often self oriented, subconscious, self awareness of people to see the bigger picture and the risks to our local/national institutions beyond their own needs.)
Here are a few benefits of why people support hate and why systems often default in handling it (I'm looking at this from an incentives perspective. As a general rule, people believe and do things on a social level and make decisions based on what helps them. The vast majority of people will never truly be aware of their own behaviors and the long term consequences of that behavior. If you want to understand why hate persists you have to understand its incentives and how people at different developmental levels react to internal angst. Hate as an outlet for inner dissonance.)
(One possible explanation of hate is related to lower needs fulfillment/development as postulated by Kazimierz Dabrowski’s and his theory of positive disintegration (TPD). Developmental levels are based on a person's capacity to grow from some very core rources rooted into their essence called Developmental Potential (DP). What we potentially have seen during hate crimes, ethnic cleansings, and mass shootings is a higher concentration of mental health disorders within the Level 1 stage. Such individuals are often surrounded and supported by similar Level 1 individuals. As one moves up the development ladder they are less likely to engage in such behaviors and/or rigidly adherence to group norms. At Level 4 and 5 kindness and empathy are seen as strengths but are often misconstrued as weakness by Level 1 individuals/groups. See Dabrowski's TBD. )
Here are a few benefits to the distortion of hate (Ok...its just role reversing to understand the incentives of why people do these things):
-Social approval: Its hard to hate without a community that also engages in hate (Community just meaning group and not an actual community. It could be an actual whole community but that isn't the intent of the meaning.) You will notice in most of these cases where crimes of aggression were committed there was some connection to others who thought in similar ways.
-Suppressing of inner pain: Internal pain of the aggressors often leads to attempts to make the targets associated with and eventually responsible for that pain even though they are unassociated. Almost as saying, "If I make them feel it, I don't need to feel it about myself.". By dehumanizing others they feel a temporary sense of relief from their own despair, shame, and "less than human" feelings. It can become a habit.
-Scapegoating collective faults: Sometimes societies have issues they have not fully discussed, vetted, and resolved. For example, this ex-sports group has developed a sense of blind loyalty, constant comparison, rumor spreading, and caddyness toward others. Yet none as far as I know can say the targets did anything to them and it appears to be intentionally spread "hear say". The ability to coordinate on a family is reflective of some of their inner values of this group (as well as some officials) and is a false socially constructed reality based on the distorted perceptions of key influencers.
-Avenues to power: There is power in having a mob of blind supporters willing to act and work on the behalf of such divisionary. Mental slaves, as related to mob behaviors, reflects the emotional states of their leaders/influencers. The lower the developmental level of the supporter, the more likely they will closely mirror their leaders behavior. They easily relinquish their own personal power to group power. Good leaders use power to influence followers to be better and poor leaders influence followers to be worse through the use of mirror neurons. Strong nations grow through good leadership with shared values and are destroyed off of poor diversionary values (I prior talked briefly about social construction and the activation of neural synapses based on which mental pathways people have been socialized to prefer leading to closely related socialized values and decision making. i.e. heuristic thinking and mob mentality. All the bravado, rudeness, and group aggression and not one knows what they are talking about or has any of the "facts". They acted through social mimicking in a way that invalidated such misaligned perception of manhood they were trying to cloak their true selves in. In other words, within groups and against kids anyone can be bravado but when your out there alone standing against a large irrational aggressive mob then walk the talk and taking the higher road isnt always easy; even when it helps the perpetrators be better people. i.e. flying monkeys See mirror neurons and leadership. 👆)
-Mask other issues, crimes, and behaviors: Sometimes there are bad histories that when the truth starts being revealed and the carefully woven lies unbonded the best thing to do is to make the targets "blameworthy" so the focus shifts to maintain the smokescreen. Isolation, accusations, rumors, etc. are all designed to created "blame worthiness" so as to deflect criticism and keep the truth suppressed (Trace back most hate networks and you often find mental health and other poor behaviors at the root of the group's leadership.).
-Economic reasons: Some groups want more access to jobs and opportunities than others. They have no issues suppressing others to maintain positions and/or gain new opportunities (i.e. local college that said I was more than qualified and then ghosted based on their distorted beliefs and social connections.). Good Old Boy networks exist to maintain this power and opportunities. Yet when they also incorporate racial and religious distortions that begin to cross between multiple local institutions therein lays the danger to democracy.
 |
Keeping the seeds of democracy
feeding future generations.
A painting of early pilgrims and Native
Americans. |
What we find in much of this dark behavior is the ability to maintain position/influence over some people in a way that in civilized societies is seen as unfair and unjust. This position is maintained through social aggression, belittling and restricting of opportunity that if left unchecked within our hometowns limits a huge percentage of our human capital at a time we need it the most! The next era belongs to universal principles that rely on shared perspectives that apply equally across society (
i.e. taking our current system that attempts to be fair and making it consistently fair. Bad people go to jail, mental health is treated, and good people live unrestricted. Trust in the system is restored because there is a meaningful attempt to resolved the crisis of confidence based on evidence/science and not politics.)
(Today is Thanksgiving and lets reflect on how we came here for freedom and have the responsibility to maintain that freedom. The survival of the pilgrims was based on their ability to make a human-to-human connection with Native Americans. Without that they would have perished in the wilderness and without that same spirit today we risk cracking the foundations that hold the pillars of democracy skyward. Just imagine if the indigenous people thought the newcomers were savages and not worth saving. 🧐 Just saying.)
