Haters Gonna' Hate

Hate is a thing.

It is an important thing. I've written about its institutionalization and employment in a political/editorial context. But it is often poorly understood.

Extreme examples are easy to recognize when we encounter them—genocides, pogroms, e.g, being obvious ones. Other instances are readily typifiable, especially in extremes —bigotry, racism, misogyny, misandry, gay bashing, political or religious extremism, etc.

We've probably all known someone whose entire being was eaten up with hatred for something or someone or some group. So much so that we begin to suspect there might be something comforting, if not rewarding, about it for that person.

But we also find ourselves saying something like 'I hate brussels sprouts,' or 'I hate those shoes', or 'I hate cocktail parties,' or 'I hate having to wake up early,' or 'I hate the Dallas Cowboys,' or even:



We all have our pet hates.

So, what does, say, a food aversion have in common with an effort to wipe an entire race of people off the face of the earth? Are they different in kind or merely in degree?

Let's investigate.

(to be continued)