Understanding Hate In America
By James Donahue
The word “hate” is easily understood. It is defined as a feeling of extreme hostility toward another person or group. What is confusing is why we in America are experiencing a rash of hostility by certain established individuals or groups against one another. Is it really a reaction to the vile aggressive speeches and messages flowing from the lips of an unstable personality now seated in the White House?
This is how many news columnists are interpreting the rash of public killings, suicides and rise of hate-groups now attacking minorities and non-Caucasian neighborhoods and churches throughout the nation. But when we get down to the root of it, can we say we really hate our Jewish, black, Mexican or Moslem neighbors? Does the fact that many other people do not share the same religious dogma as we enjoy make them targets of our extreme aversion and ill-will? Does the color of their skin or their racial difference make them appear less of human than Caucasian Americans of European origin? And why the ongoing dislike of the Native American people who occupied this land long before our ancestors arrived?
A study by Neurobiologist Semir Zeki, University College London, found that aggressive behavior and feelings of anger and aggression stem from a part of the brain that also activates love. Thus the study found that loathing can spring from positive feelings such as romantic love. "This linkage may account for why love and hate are so closely linked to each other in life," the report concluded.
Thus it appears that switching human emotions from love and good wishes to hatred and loathing may require but a simple alteration in the environment, or in the nation’s leadership. And this happens to be what is presently occurring in America.
A report by Feroze Dhanoa recently published in Patch National noted that the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified over 900 hate groups now operating in America. Many of them are believed to be part of a modern White Power Movement, which appears to be clearly sparked by the benevolent words of Donald Trump. The Dhanoa report quotes an unidentified researcher as stating that these groups are being found everywhere, from the urban to suburban and rural neighborhoods.
The Southern Poverty Law report notes that “all hate groups have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics.”
How sad it has become for this nation . . . long proudly known as the “breadbasket of the world” and “land of opportunity” for immigrants from all corners of the planet. The Statue of Liberty, a gift from the French in 1886, has stood as a proud image of our open door policy to people of all nationalities and religious conviction. All have been invited to establish a new life in America.
Hate groups ranging from the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazis to White Nationalists, Skinheads, Black Separatists and Anti-Muslims have sprung up visibly since Mr. Trump gained the presidency. But it is clear that many such groups existed secretly before the Trump presidency. It appears that his unbridled rhetoric has served to bring them out into the open. Their hate meetings and actions are troublesome enough. But this does not explain the behavior of random shooters, bombers, and general killings of people shopping in stores, attending church services, eating in public restaurants, or just being in public places.
There seems to be a growing malaise sweeping the nation. We have become sick of the constant news reports of death and despair, the ugly rantings of that stuffed pecunious fool in the presidency, the stripping of socialist programs for poor, elderly and homeless Americans, and a general sense of discontent as researchers warn of a looming end of the world because of our unwillingness to stop polluting our environment.That our once great education system has failed to produce cogitative thinking Americans has created the fodder for a national take-over of America by extreme right-wing conservative gangsters. Thus it has become easy for a character like Mr. Trump to rise up and lead a large number of simple-minded people into a system of self-destruction. And they are following him thinking that their actions are going to be good for America.
By James Donahue
The word “hate” is easily understood. It is defined as a feeling of extreme hostility toward another person or group. What is confusing is why we in America are experiencing a rash of hostility by certain established individuals or groups against one another. Is it really a reaction to the vile aggressive speeches and messages flowing from the lips of an unstable personality now seated in the White House?
This is how many news columnists are interpreting the rash of public killings, suicides and rise of hate-groups now attacking minorities and non-Caucasian neighborhoods and churches throughout the nation. But when we get down to the root of it, can we say we really hate our Jewish, black, Mexican or Moslem neighbors? Does the fact that many other people do not share the same religious dogma as we enjoy make them targets of our extreme aversion and ill-will? Does the color of their skin or their racial difference make them appear less of human than Caucasian Americans of European origin? And why the ongoing dislike of the Native American people who occupied this land long before our ancestors arrived?
A study by Neurobiologist Semir Zeki, University College London, found that aggressive behavior and feelings of anger and aggression stem from a part of the brain that also activates love. Thus the study found that loathing can spring from positive feelings such as romantic love. "This linkage may account for why love and hate are so closely linked to each other in life," the report concluded.
Thus it appears that switching human emotions from love and good wishes to hatred and loathing may require but a simple alteration in the environment, or in the nation’s leadership. And this happens to be what is presently occurring in America.
A report by Feroze Dhanoa recently published in Patch National noted that the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified over 900 hate groups now operating in America. Many of them are believed to be part of a modern White Power Movement, which appears to be clearly sparked by the benevolent words of Donald Trump. The Dhanoa report quotes an unidentified researcher as stating that these groups are being found everywhere, from the urban to suburban and rural neighborhoods.
The Southern Poverty Law report notes that “all hate groups have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics.”
How sad it has become for this nation . . . long proudly known as the “breadbasket of the world” and “land of opportunity” for immigrants from all corners of the planet. The Statue of Liberty, a gift from the French in 1886, has stood as a proud image of our open door policy to people of all nationalities and religious conviction. All have been invited to establish a new life in America.
Hate groups ranging from the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazis to White Nationalists, Skinheads, Black Separatists and Anti-Muslims have sprung up visibly since Mr. Trump gained the presidency. But it is clear that many such groups existed secretly before the Trump presidency. It appears that his unbridled rhetoric has served to bring them out into the open. Their hate meetings and actions are troublesome enough. But this does not explain the behavior of random shooters, bombers, and general killings of people shopping in stores, attending church services, eating in public restaurants, or just being in public places.
There seems to be a growing malaise sweeping the nation. We have become sick of the constant news reports of death and despair, the ugly rantings of that stuffed pecunious fool in the presidency, the stripping of socialist programs for poor, elderly and homeless Americans, and a general sense of discontent as researchers warn of a looming end of the world because of our unwillingness to stop polluting our environment.That our once great education system has failed to produce cogitative thinking Americans has created the fodder for a national take-over of America by extreme right-wing conservative gangsters. Thus it has become easy for a character like Mr. Trump to rise up and lead a large number of simple-minded people into a system of self-destruction. And they are following him thinking that their actions are going to be good for America.