When I was doing my undergraduate, I took a political theory course that covered a number of books that are now classics in the discipline. One book that I was particularly struck by was The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt. Arendt was a complicated and interesting woman who, as a Jew, left Germany after the rise of the Nazis. What made her life a bit of a head-scratcher (well, one thing among many) was that she was romantically linked to one of the members of the Nazis’ intellectual class, Martin Heidegger. Heidegger was also a complicated person, whose philosophy was not easy to comprehend and equally difficult to read because of the ever-persistent feeling that you were reading the thoughts of a man who fundamentally agreed with the ideology and actions of Adolph Hitler.
But I’m not going to blog on Heidegger. Rather, I wanted to bring up something that Arendt wrote about in Origins of Totalitarianism: dehumanization. According the Arendt, what made it easier for humans to torture and kill other humans was the process of dehumanization. Once you render your enemies into “things,” it makes it easier (psychologically speaking) to destroy them. An emotion that rallies large groups of people to begin the process of dehumanization of othe people is hatred. Ever since I read Arendt’s book, I’ve been very conscious of keeping that emotion at bay. It’s not easy, because there are people out there who make it very easy to hate. Off the top of my head, I would say that bigots are right there at the top of my “people I hate” list. But even those people I can’t fully hate because I know that there’s more to them than just the one-dimension psychological state of bigotry. I fundamentally disagree with the things our government and those who hold political power do in our name. But I don’t hate the individual people because I don’t know them. I only know how they act using the power of their office.My daughter once asked me if I hated George W. Bush. I told her that I didn’t. She persisted and said that I didn’t like his politics or his policies. I said that was accurate, but I still didn’t hate him. She asked why, and I basically recounted a simple version of Arendt’s analysis of the dehumanization of the Jews in Germany. I said that it’s important that we have our own opinions, but if we meet others with whom we disagree, we should use the force of our arguments to defend (or criticize) points of view. We shouldn’t fall into the trap of hatred because someone disagrees with us, or says something stupid. She said it wasn’t an easy thing to do (i.e., not to hate), because people can say and do hurtful things. I agreed because, really, how can you disagree with that. But I held my ground and said (in a Yoda voice) that hatred leads to the dark side.
With all that said, I have to say that when one of our countrymen, who served as a speechwriter for the Bush Administration, publicly starts to name people he hates, it makes me wonder who the real “America-haters” are. And it makes me angry that someone who knows of power of certain words uses them in such a way to send a not-so-subtle coded message that’s it’s open season on those on his “enemies list.”
–PK
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Ml
October 30, 2006 at 6:31 amHatred is such an evil emotion. Nothing good can come from hating. Everyone has their demons they fight everyday. I think they use hating others as a way not to face their issues. Why go inside and face that demon (which is painful) when you can hurt others to try and make yourself feel better. But, doing only makes you fee worse.
Ml
October 30, 2006 at 6:31 amApparently, I don’t know how to type properly. Sorry for the typos.
J
October 30, 2006 at 6:45 amUgh. This is tough, because there are people out there doing so much harm, and it’s hard to say that I only hate what they are doing, I don’t hate them. But your reasoning is correct, and we don’t really want to go down that slippery slope toward dehumanizing people. I read the piece you linked to, and he’s pretty gone far down that slope already.
But when I see Bush sqint his beady little eyes and smirk while he talks about what he’s going to do to our country next, it’s REALLY hard to keep the hatred fixed on his actions, and not on the man.
Gina
October 30, 2006 at 8:25 amIsn’t it interesting how both sides seem to think that the others are “haters?”
When I go on blogs, it is usually the “righties” who are spewing insults and the “lefties” who usually try to inject some type of critical thinking and logic. Not always, but most of the time.
Py Korry
October 30, 2006 at 8:57 amYeah, I agree that Bush is a difficult man not to hate when he does so much to cause harm. I’m just glad he can’t run for a 3rd term.
Maya's Granny
October 30, 2006 at 8:58 amOh, Py. It’s so hard to live up to you, sometimes. I want to hate them so much. Want it so much, to hate so much. Both, so much.
I won’t do it, but oh, I want to.
Maya's Granny
October 30, 2006 at 9:05 amI just read the article you linked to. What a thing! He says he’ll crawl over broken glass if he has to in order to vote. What a crock! He doesn’t have to crawl over broken glass or anything else in order to vote.
I don’t know whether or not every person he mentions said everything that he claims, but I do know that many of them did not, which makes me doubt that any of them did.
And he may well have removed all of the things from Bush’s speeches that lowered him — but not all of the things that gave away how low he is.
Beenzzz (Bean)
October 30, 2006 at 9:06 amHatred is for the weak and for those who want to rally the weak into their cause. You see it all the time. Those who are misfits in society tend to use hatred as a means of belonging. Pretty sick stuff.
Py Korry
October 30, 2006 at 9:45 amYeah, the “broken glass” comment is pretty silly. When was the last time you heard of Republicans being stopped (by force) from voting? I just love how he tries to make those with power look like an oppressed class with evil liberals using broken glass (or whatever is handy) to stop Republicans from voting. What a crock!
lalunas
October 30, 2006 at 1:06 pmYeah a good example of your blog today was the last Friday’s episode of Battle Star. They threw those 13 people out of the airlock because they were linked to their enemy. The hate that was exhibited was truly ugly; I am however glad they did not throw Gayta out the airlock. The Battle Star episode parallels life today using your example, especially how we feel towards other people’s politic beliefs. It would be wonderful if we could remember that everyone has different beliefs, and that those differences is what makes each and everyone of us unique, colorful and life not so mundane.
jefitoblog
October 30, 2006 at 3:38 pm[…] But do yourself a favor and go pay my friend Py Korry a visit today. His political posts often give my skin a dark green jealous tint, and today’s is no exception. Py is a sharp guy. We disagree a bit on where the left needs to be politically in order to be effective, but he’s at least ten million times smarter than I am, so he’s probably right. […]
Cherry
October 30, 2006 at 4:27 pmI still hear my mom’s voice in my head when I was little and I said I hated someone. She told me about how I need to think really really long about my feelings before I use the word “Hate” because that is a very powerful word.
Even if I say I hate something or someone, I tried to stop and correct myself. It is a very powerful feelings.
Rod Parkes
October 30, 2006 at 6:43 pmI think the best way to avoid hating the Republicans is to feel sorry for them because they are so deluded. Time after time Burgess totally misses the point.
Central American dictators? Presumably he means the popularly elected Hugo Chavez, as opposed to the administration’s favourite dictators elsewhere like the Saudi royal family (now that would be a good place to start if Bush is really serious about bringing democracy to the Middle East).
If Bush really didn’t know in advance that there were probably no WMD in Iraq, then he obviously didn’t read the intelligence reports before thay were massaged to support his wishes.
Unilateralism and “enforcing the UN’s resolutions”? Bush went ahead with his own coalition because the UN refused to approve war against Saddam. Most of his actions show that he detests the UN.
US troops dying to defend the Constitution? Most on the left have been careful to separate respect for the vast majority of decent US military personnel (excepting those few who have been guilty of the Abu Ghraib tortures etc.) from disrespect for their mission. Meanwhile Bush has been doing his best back home to disembowel the “piece of paper” they are giving their lives for.
Burgess’s world is an ugly one, but it has little to do with reality. We should pity him (though a little broken glass between him and the polling booth wouldn’t be such a bad idea).
David
October 30, 2006 at 8:21 pmMy brother had to crawl on ACTUAL broken glass – and stone, and shrapnel – to pull a fellow soldier out of enemy fire while both were pinned down on a rooftop in Iraq. For which he was awarded the Bronze Star.
I have to laugh at the stupidity of the crap posted on the Fredericksburg site. It just smacks of so much fear. Fear, and overcompensation. I can’t believe this fellow was a professional speechwriter. I’ve met teenagers with more emotional self-control.
Oh – and my bro’s voting Democratic this fall. That, too, makes me smile.
2fs
October 30, 2006 at 9:27 pmWell, I hope Burgess has fun with his hatefest. He certainly isn’t letting facts get in his way (as pointed out above). One more: Kevin Barrett is not a professor. He is a lecturer (more or less an ad-hoc, non-tenured instructor). Trivial, ultimately…but it highlights current Republicans’ all-too-typical disdain for the nuanced detail of reality.
Dan
October 31, 2006 at 8:21 amI read this wanker’s letter.
This is like the tirade of some child that is told the truth about something that means so much to them(maybe an errant parent) and can only react to the messenger “I hate you! It’s not true. You lie! I hate you.”
All you can do is hug them until they accept the truth. Or in this case, tell him to go fuck himself.
Thinking About… » Kindness
November 3, 2006 at 10:45 am[…] I feel as though this message is coming at me from all directions lately. My beloved Py Korry wrote a post about hatred, and how it can be used to dehumanize others…then Ms. Mama wrote a post about the death of someone she knew, and how we should all be kind to those we love, for you never know when we will see them again…then Cherry wrote about how we can start a peace revolution, spreading peace with kindness. Last night, in a class I’m taking to help children with resiliency skills and making healthy choices, they showed a very short bit about the power of one, and some of the brave people there were people who were known for their kindess, like Mother Theresa and Gandhi. The other day, I received an email from a local organization, Creek Kids Care, which included one of my favorite quotes, the one from Henry James, up above. (Creek Kids Care is a small group of children…the younger ones make drawings and paintings, the older ones cut them and make them into note cards, which they then sell. The proceeds are used to buy food, sleeping bags, and tents for local homeless folks. Great idea, getting the kids involved in such a great, creative way. Maya’s going to an art party there this afternoon.) Heck, even my sidebar mentions kindness, in the Lyrics Section. One of my favorite Jewel songs, Hands, which says: I will not be made useless I won’t be idled with despair I will gather myself around my faith for light does the darkness most fear […]
cadiz12
November 5, 2006 at 4:28 amwhat’s scary is that sometimes even our own country teaches members of the military to dehumanize the “enemy.” how else can we explain what happened in Abu Ghraib?
hate only breeds more hate. and in the end, no one can possibly win.