Where does all their hate come from?

[YoungDemCA]

Why are Republicans and right-wingers so damn hateful?

Is it because they fear that they are losing something? Economic, social, and political privileges, perhaps? Is that what drives them?

Or is it more a respect for "traditional" authority and power, or is it right-wing, dogmatic, absolutist religious views, where everything is "black and white", good vs evil, us against them, "real Americans" vs the *insert villain of the week here*?>

Is it racism? Sexism? Classism? Homophobia? Xenophobia? Some combination thereof? Some sort of perverted nationalism, where "Proud to be an American" means hating the "Other"?

One thing is for sure; right-wingers have created a poisonous political atmosphere in the United States. This cannot be healthy in the long-term, for anybody. But it does give the Republicans effective power-driving down turnout (like they did in the 2010 midterms) to make the American electorate more white, male, straight, Christian, and rich than an electorate that is really representative of America. And with the Roberts Court effectively giving corporations more rights than people, in a political atmosphere already overwhelmingly skewed toward the privileged, we are in for some hard times ahead indeed.

Maybe it's all a cynical ploy to divide the country further so that the power elites will avoid being held accountable for their Robber Baron actions. Because even though most Americans hate the elites, if that hate can be directed downward, towards the main victims of oppression in our society, the oppressive elite can continue to run amok, unaccountable.

Hate may be poisonous, but they found a way to make it profitable.

[2on2u]

1. Like the man who fell into the pit band at the play.... it's just a stage they are going through,

hate is nothing more than fear turned inside out, they'll get over it after they all make their first million.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. death rattle, cornered animal, last gasp desperation - they are soon to become irrelevant - extinct.

that's my view, anyway - although there are elements of many of the things you list.

[Speck Tater]

7. Yes, they are doomed to extinction.

As for their daily behavior, they are pumped full of fear and hatred every day by right-wing fear/hate radio and fear/hate TV. They are taught what to fear and who to hate, and given "reasons" why to hate. Rush and Fox and Glenn Beck and that whole crowd of fear/hate mongers pumps of the fear every day, and then "relieves" the fear with a fresh dose of hate.

And yes, they are doomed to extinction. But so is the rest of humanity, so what difference does that make?

[RKP5637]

12. Sadly I agree so much with you, that given the current course

humanity is headed straight for extinction. And this is supposedly an intelligent species, so it's apparent humans are working to bring on their extension ASAP.

To me, and not to sound outrageous, nothing short of some type of intergalactic intervention will save the human species. One quick look at human behavior is one giant WTF.

[Zalatix]

33. More like mass hypnosis - see: Germany, 1939.

[RegieRocker]

3. From a time and place that never existed but only in their minds.

La La Land.

[southernyankeebelle]

4. I think this has been going on since the days of protests against the VN war and women

sexual revolution. Years ago when Gingrich said we must destroy liberalism not one took him seriously but his fellow right wingers. Of course they didn't have the balls to do it in the open. But liberalism isn't dead yet. You see the white older population is dying off. They will not have anyone to support the republican party. People that are younger are more tolerant and liberal in their thinking. Many of the don't hate government. So in the long run republicans are going to loose.

[DesertFlower]

8. good point.

i'm almost 71 and was part of those protests and the sexual revolution.

[southernyankeebelle]

23. Am 64 and my dad wouldn't let me out on the streets, LOL. I respected my dad yet

he also supported the protestors rights.

[madokie]

38. I'm 64 and when I got home I joined in

I was one that seen what we were doing was wrong first hand and didn't for one second like what I seen so soon as I got home the hair came out and the attitude was on. If not for the Protesters here America wouldn't have left Vietnam until it was one glob of glass. Looking back it was getting more atrocious as time went on as it became more obvious that the people weren't going to just lay down and let us take over.

[RKP5637]

13. I've been hoping they would all die off since the 50's and they are

still here. Many of the young ones back then grew up to replace them. I sure do hope they become extinct.

[southernyankeebelle]

18. Well I grew up in that generation however I got to travel the world and that opens your

mind. The protestors weren't bad people. They helped stop the VN war (although I heard people were spit on but never seen it because I worked on a base at the time and I am sure I would have heard about it). If it did happen it never should have. I respected the troops. They were sent and had no choice. These people couldn't get deferments. Also the african american community were able to progressive along with womens rights. So not all was bad. Some grew up into their parents. That is sad.

[RKP5637]

27. Oh, I wasn't talking about the protesters, I was with them. I'm speaking of

Last edited Thu Jun 21, 2012, 08:59 AM - Edit history (1)

the others back then that did nothing and thought those of us protesting were just wastes. I know some of them still now, and they are RW teabaggers today. Yep, they grew up into their parents.
And I think there are a lot of younger people today that will grow up RW as anything.

[southernyankeebelle]

45. I agree. Primary on that list was Cheney, Romney. What kills me is Romney actually

carried a sign for the war in VN. What a hypocrite.

[madokie]

39. I'd been prisoner number whatever if someone actually spit on me

it was the attitude that they are referring to not the actual act of spitting. I read that 1/4 of our homeless today are Vietnam Vets for an example. That should never have been allowed.

[southernyankeebelle]

44. I totally agree with you. Our congress and senate let these Vet's down.

[upaloopa]

5. Fear It comes from the fear of losing control of their lives. The only problem is that they don't

have control of their lives but they think they do.

Fear that they will become the minority and will get the same treatment they now give minorities.

The conservative old white male is a minority but they don't understand that.

Fear that the authority system that they depend on will go away. "Who's in charge?"

Fear that they will have to think for themselves and understand that they have been wrong all along.

[maryellen99]

37. RW teabaggers/Republicans

Do they really believe that by electing romney that everything will magically go back to the way it was?

[Canuckistanian]

46. "Fear that they will become the minority and will get the same treatment they now give minorities"

Bingo

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

52. +1,000,000! So they go out and buy up all their guns, fearful that we Knee-Grows are out

to take what they have and kill their children. I'm serious! It's the fear of the other. That's what Rush Limbaugh has been all about. The "New Black Panther Party," ACORN, Shirly Sherrod, Van Jones, and now Eric "coming to take our guns" Holder...that's what they are afraid of. Every one of the people that the Republicans/Teabaggers have gone after are black, whether it be Maxine Waters, John Conyers, and Charlie Rangel in the Congress or Van Jones, even the First Lady. This is about race and their fear of becoming the minority in this country. And they scare their minions who then become obsessed with guns and "Stand Your Ground" laws.

[lindysalsagal]

64. I also wonder if there isn't a little sub-conscious guilt about all that sub-conscious racism, too.

Guilt makes people hate and fear and lie.

[MrScorpio]

6. The Republicans have jumped off a cliff into an abyss of radical insanity.

And don't think that people of color aren't seeing the way that they're treating both the President and the AG as Bull Connor would treat civil rights marchers on the road to Birmingham.

They're treating these black men in ways that a president and an attorney general have never been treated before.

[RKP5637]

28. Yep, they just absolutely hate the black men in office. It's sooo sad

and backward. I thought we were moving forward, sometimes I wonder. As some have said, one step forward, two backward and then maybe three forward, well something like that.

[Laurian]

9. I think Newt Gingrich deserves the most credit for the current level of vitriol.

There may have been some strong disagreements before he arrived in Washington, but he and his Contract For America crowd took the hatefulness to a whole new level and it has continued to escalate since then.

[YoungDemCA]

11. The Reaganites were pretty bad too....

..but yes, they were a mere foreshadowing of the Gingrich types.

[RKP5637]

14. Yep, I think it was pretty much a packaged deal, they played off

and reinforced each other and enough Americans were ignorant enough to play right into their hands.

[JHB]

43. Gingrich and Limbaugh have credit for the current weaponized vitriol

They strapped rocket boosters onto what had come before them in order to advance their careers and agendas. And once they rose to the top, all constraints on them were off, and the imitators rose exponentially.

[elleng]

10. 'They' is made up of many 'thems,'

and it includes groups of fearful individuals, taught to be fearful, and taught to hate.

There are also many whose liveliehood is based on THEIR power, as in, McConnell, Boner, Cantor, Rover, etc, and also those who 'win' by manipulating rules and regulations in the favor of their businesses. This last is the killer of our economy, lack of regulation kills capitalism.

[Stinky The Clown]

15. Writhing as the white majority has slipped into a large minority.

They would do better to make peace with their red, yellow, brown, and black brothers and sisters. Their hatred will consume them.

[grasswire]

17. yep

you beat me to this point.

More minority births than white births this year in this country.

They are losing ground on all fronts. Failed to win the culture wars, too.

[OKNancy]

16. This really made a rightwing acquaintance mad when I said:

Liberals and liberal thought always wins in the end... we are just arguing about how fast.

I think that is the root of their anger. We usually do win in the end.

[Arugula Latte]

72. Maybe socially, but not economically. They're reversing the middle class gains of the 20th century.

[lindysalsagal]

19. I actually have an honest answer for you: A very close friend has helped me figure it out:

I’ve been dating a wonderful 53 year old man (I’m 51) for a year and a half. He’s really opening up to me about his messed-up childhood. There was an institutionalized parent and some time in an orphanage. Anyway, when his mother died young, he suddenly (big shocker here) felt her bestow on him her catholic faith, and he’s been going to church and believing every word of the stuff ever since.

I mean, he doesn’t just see the good parts, he even thinks the bad parts were good: Slavery, stonings, god’s wrath on people, judgement, punishment, the whole ugly side. He thinks the pedophilia isn’t any worse than in any other population….Basically, he’s turned a blind eye to everything in the catholic church that requires any critical thinking. He actually told me that kids with autism or other debilitating conditions are part of the big plan. “There’s a reason for everything.” Sorry, but I don’t think those parents did something to warrant the need to incapacitate their kid for life. Autism is an ooops. I don’t know if it’s science or environmental, but it’s an oops, and it wasn‘t anyone’s plan. If there is an omnipotent all-loving god with the power to make every tiny decision, the prince of peace, no such god would choose to incapacitate a child with autism.

He clings to it all, including the rw hate media because they tell him he’s right, and those libruls are heathens, and mom and dad and god like him best. His faith puts him ahead in line . It’s his magic “get out of misery card.” No matter how miserable his life was, his parents are waiting for him in heaven, and this time, they’ll really love him and he’ll be able to depend on them. Plus, it’s the greatest consolation prize, ever: Eternal happiness in heaven with god, etc, etc.

He’s sold his soul and his critical thinking skills to the devil I mean god. No amount of reality is going to mar his made-up world where he is healed and comes out ahead. He knows I don’t buy into any of it, but he holds on, anyway. He just can’t go on living with so much loss. He chooses the hate and anger and fear because it seems normal to him: Like his childhood. All that hostility assures him that he's still here, which is better than where he felt he was as a lost child.

[YoungDemCA]

35. Thanks for your answer

Yes, a lot of people with these kinds of hateful views have had trauma (often early in life). But that doesn't explain it all, for many progressive-minded people have often had trauma in their lives.

It's how you cope with the trauma and the type of people and communities you are supported by (or not...) that make the difference, IMO.

[lindysalsagal]

61. Yes, you're right. Some people learn to be better from difficult situations.

And then there's Dick Cheney....

[hatrack]

47. I have a slightly shorter version of it from my own experience, but a similar take:

Essentially, conservatives - in particular movement know-nothing tea-bag conservatives - are people with Daddy problems.

Daddy was a fuck-up, Daddy was a drunk, Daddy was abusive, Daddy wasn't there.

Whatever the foundational trauma, lots of these people spend their whole lives looking for the Synthetic Perfect Daddy who'll take them back to the way things were supposed to be (but never actually were, even during the "good" times).

Could be God, could be the president, could be (oh pleasepleaseplease) a Godly President like Little Boots.

Lots of infantile longing, wishful thinking, inability to close the book on the past, inability to come to terms with the present.

[raccoon]

53. May be....but that's true of me too, and I'm about the most bleeding heart liberal you could

imagine.

"Daddy was a fuck-up, Daddy was a drunk, Daddy was abusive, Daddy wasn't there."

[lindysalsagal]

63. Yes: Our fathers inveset us with identity: So these emotionally bankrupt zanies

take on the identity offered by Faux "News" and Hannity and Limppaw. The fact that it's an angry, resentful identity is their favorite part, and it blinds them to the harm their policies do to themselves and those they "love."

[hfojvt]

65. that's kinda hard to follow

Because first you call him a "wonderful man" and then you say he has no critical thinking skills and that he is full of hate.

Which is kind of an odd way to describe a "wonderful man."

My question to the OP though would be "why are liberals so full of hate?"

[Odin2005]

20. Fear of change. Fear of the unknown.

Despite the trappings of civilization, we are still deeply tribal at our core. At a deep level, we find change deeply frightening. We mock tribal societies for being terrified of change, but we behave the same way.

[lindysalsagal]

67. Yes, condemn those silly aboriginees who believe in their invisible

sky and water gods who play with us down here on earth like rag dolls...


oh, wait....

http://mediamatters.org/research/200509130004

[clang1]

21. Where does all their hate come from?

Ignorance, stupidity, lack of education (cultural and academic), massive doses of misinformation and disinformation and so on

[tabasco]

22. Overpopulation

Everyone knows there are too many humans and everyone is in competition.

The plutocracy's constant demand for "growth" is destroying our world.

[GeorgeGist]

24. Self-loathing for the pissants.

Sociopathy for their leaders.

[Hotler]

25. It is all about selfishness, plain and simple. n/t

[RKP5637]

29. Yep, that's pretty much the foundation of it all. n/t

[Ghost of Huey Long]

66. They are behaving like infants who should be reigned in "gimmee gimmee more more mine mine mine"

Why are we letting people with no manners, who were never properly disciplined...reign over our country like the school yard bully?

We have established that 1%ers are clinical sociopaths, at what point to we remove them from power and have them committed?

If we don't stand up to these hateful bullies they will continue.

I think what is happening is that we know how awful they are, we see who they are...but it is the silence of our friends that is deafening.

If all the people that know about what is going on, who care about this country and humanity itself...would support each other and stand up together, we could fight this terrible beast. But everyone is too afraid. Even on this board, even after all the stolen elections, people are afraid to even say they question our election process. No one wants to be a conspiracy theorist. No one wants to make that angry uncle mad. No one wants to step on any toes at work. And when you do try and are met with that inevitable brick wall, no one knows what to do about the denial.

But we must do something, and we have to do it together. Occupy was great, but it did not go to where the focus is needed...corrupt corporate media is controlling reality in this country, manufacturing consent for fascism. WE must confront the TV stations, demand they use our public airwaves to serve the public interest, or occupy the FCC and demand they lose their license. At the very least it would raise awareness that people are NOT happy with the corporate media and that they should not be considered a qualified news source.

[The Doctor.]

26. Fear.

It all comes from an archaic response to 'different' which was great 100,000 years ago when being afraid of everything was useful.

Now, notsomuch.

But instead of realizing they're afraid of everything, including the appearance of being afraid, they transmute fear to anger... fight or flight don't ya know.

[RKP5637]

30. I often wonder, do you think it's conditioned or inherited? n/t

[YoungDemCA]

31. Both

And just as what is inherited affects what is conditioned, what is conditioned also affects what is inherited.

[RKP5637]

42. And then when mixed with hatred and Hate-Radio, it's a pretty lethal combination. n/t

[YoungDemCA]

32. The reactive part of the brain

Which the rational part of the brain then rationalizes the absolutist fear, anger, and reactionary attitudes as strength and confidence. But it's a false confidence.

[The Doctor.]

40. Very true.

There is a reason we see more braggadoccio on the right.

[ieoeja]

49. Reagan and baby Bush are toughs with swagger. McGovern and Kerry are wimps with medals.

Carter was a wimp who refused to give into the Iranian hostage takers demands. Reagan got the hostages released because the Iranians were that afraid of him. The fact that he also gave in to all their demands is just coincidence.

Acting tough has always been more important to them than actually being tough. I have never understood that.

[WiffenPoof]

34. Excellent Post...ON the Mark

Republicans all share one trait that is the hallmark of their existence....FEAR.

-P

[Initech]

36. I think they all scored low on the TMI index, causing them to lash their hate at others.

http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s15e04-tmi

[lindysalsagal]

74. "The winds of change are blowin...America is back!"

Thanks, I needed that.

[SmileyRose]

41. Hater gonna hate.

That is all.

they'll come up with whatever reason is easiest but hater gonna hate.

[JNelson6563]

48. It's rooted in their fear.

[Shagman]

50. All about Death

I heard about a book but can't find it now. Titled "Death Denial" or something like that, it explains conservative thought as a constellation of fears anchored by the biggest one of all, fear of dying. (Could be this: Monbiot post.) We now know that conservatism is inherited, or at least genetic, because they have large amygdalas.

Fear of death ties into religion, because they all promise some kind of afterlife. You connect another fear to that one, and your message is reinforced by unquestioned dogma. Those boil down to fear of the unknown: other people, other cultures, other ideas. The scaffolding keeps getting bigger and shakier. It doesn't fall because it all goes back to death.To admit one thing is wrong is to admit it's all wrong. This is why politics and religion should never mix.

You can't appeal directly to fear, of course. It comes across as hatred. They make decisions based on emotion, not reason, so they never develop the ability to reflect on their own motivations. They aren't honest with themselves, so they tolerate people who aren't honest with them, as long as the lies reinforce their worldview. Denial becomes a way of life.

I don't think it's possible to make progress by educating them individually. You have to disrupt the infrastructure that spreads the lies, because they make sure everyone is hearing the same lies.

[Ghost of Huey Long]

69. You have to disrupt the infrastructure that spreads the lies- the corporate media

The corporate media who is raking in record amounts to lie this election season.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

51. Everything is about race, even when it's not supposed to be. Republicans have ran

on the successful Southern Strategy since LBJ, pitting poor whites against blacks. Even now, there are a good number of middle class whites who are convinced that the Democratic Party is taking something away from them and giving it to "the less deserving and lazy" blacks and Hispanics. That's why Democrats now have a difficult time winning a majority of the white vote.

[jillan]

54. I think it comes from believing that they are superior to everyone else. And

they are closed minded and will not listen to anything that is different from what they believe.
It is much easier to belittle someone than to try and see things from a different point of view.

[lumberjack_jeff]

55. Tribal identity. They define themselves by what we oppose. n/t

[hifiguy]

56. Fear stoked by a constant drumbeat against the "other"

whether it be black and brown folks who dare to demand equality, poor people who are being screwed by the system and demand justice, uppity wimmens who think their health care is a Big Deal (which it is), scary Mooslins, atheists, LGBT people who dare to demand equality and won't go back into the closet, liberals and anyone else who isn't a bible-banging, gun totin' straight white male.

Few things allow fear to morph into hate than the 24/7 propaganda financed by the 1% who know that they would be hanging from lightpoles if the masses ever got their act together. Divide and conquer is as old as humankind and today's reichwingers have perfected it.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

57. I think that they are busy making a last-ditch effort to "bake" their ideology into the cake

They want to fundamentally undermine Medicare (and Social Security and other social safety net programs) so that once people notice they're gone and they're starting to hurt, it won't be as easy to revive, particularly since they'll make sure that the money gets pumped into other venues- tax cuts for the wealthy that will be untouchable and defense spending so that they can suck us into more military conflicts that are difficult to extricate ourselves from. I mean, it took us 8 years to get in and out of Iraq and we've been in Afghanistan for almost 11 years now and will have been there for 13 years by the time we finally pull out of there. If the RW has their way, we will probably get involved with Iran for several years as well. The right-wing vision of this country is very dark indeed.

[McCamy Taylor]

58. Smell the fear. Fear makes people act badly. The richest men are often compensating for deep seated

insecurities. Those who truly love themselves, love other people. Those who hate other people do so because they have been taught to hate themselves. So, for instance, if you run a big religion that likes to authorize witch hunts and inquisitions, you sexually abuse children, tell them that they are to blame for their own misery, make them wretched self haters---and then turn them lose to hate the rest of the world.

[VOX]

59. 1) Billionaires' insatiable greed;2) RW mouthpieces stoke fear & anger...

Incessant fear and anger on multiple media outlets. Billionaires and their RW water-carriers deliberately and shrewdly stock the courts with their pal judges, they craft the language and frame the issues. Billionaires really don't care about abortion, or gun control, or "death panels," or gay marriage, etc. BUT their duplicitousness informs their strategy to keep the susceptible, poorly informed public focused rightward on these hot-button items... Meanwhile, the store is being looted six ways from Sunday.

At the same time, global populations are shifting and migrating. There is a reactionary backlash taking place in Europe as well. Whites sense this power-shift, and are throwing everything, especially blind hatred and intolerance, at what is perceived as some sort of righteous final battle. Unfortunately, the truly weird behaviors are just getting underway.

[MrSlayer]

60. I sure know where mine is coming from.

Them. I'm tired of being angry all the time. I'm tired of hating so hard all the time because of the shit they're doing or not doing as the case may be. I'm tired of being out of work because of them. I'm tired of being tired.

[Ghost of Huey Long]

62. God is Love

I think that tells us who they have been listening to and who they are purposefully or inadvertently working for.

[clang1]

68. It's a tool n/t

[RobinA]

70. Ya Got Me

Not long ago I was at the same family gathering as a friend of the family. This friend is recently retired, quite comfortably, from an approximately $200,000 a year job in a private industry that is highly government subdidized. He had a good career that he liked. He does not have to worry about his future from a financial standpoint. He has enough money to do what he wants, but is not extravagant considering his income. He's always been extremely right-wing and getting more so. At said dinner, he went on and on about the government workers (that would be me) and their many vacations and super benefits and how we are ruining the country. I hold a Masters Degree and make $40,000+ a year. Yes, I have good health insurance. I just spent three years with one week vacation each.

I had to ask myself, Why would a guy in his position resent a person in my position so much? I certainly don't resent people who make a quarter of my salary. I didn't argue with him, because I thought it would be a waste of breath. But what gives? I'm still trying to figure it out.

[polichick]

71. FEAR for themselves, who see "the other" as threatening to life...

...as they know it.

[clang1]

73. Yes n/t

[ailsagirl]

75. What's really unforgivable

is that this hate group (repug congress) has no problem whatsover in putting party first, no matter how many good, decent people they ruin in the process. They're steeped in hatred. Didn't they take an oath to uphold the law and make decisions with their constituents' best interests in mind? Ironic, isn't it? The good news is that their approval ratings can't get much lower. Have they forgotten the life rule that they simply cannot do what they're doing with impunity ("Pride goeth before a fall&quot ?? They're like suicide bombers in that they would gladly destroy their own political careers if it means destroying Obama. This mindset is WAY over the top, beyond anything we've ever seen and certainly beyond my comprehension.