Hate!!! Hate!!! Hate!!!

My big problem right now is that I don’t have a lot of enemies, and the ones that I do have are pretty incompetant.

I don’t really hate anybody right now except the French and the Amish (and I hate them in a fond kind of way,) and it’s becoming a real problem. I’m pretty happy and content and therefore I’m not at my best.

To really get my blood going, to make myself a winner, to strive, and innovate I need to be competing against somebody I really despise. Once I’m focussed on their destruction, humiliation or whatever then I really overachieve.

Indeed, this is when mankind is at his best. The Indians knew this and they used to measure themselves by the quality of their enemies (At least that’s what they said in that movie “Jeremiah Johnson” with Robert Redford.)

Look at the Great advances made during and in the period after the Civil War, World War I, World War II.

During the cold war we got to hate the Russians and at the height of that conflict we put a man on the moon. To show you how far we’ve backslid, this is a feat we could not repeat today.

Hitler knew this, and the hatred he built against the jews was a calculated thing, designed to focus the German people.

Without a really bad enemy, we’ll focus on lesser differences. We can hate because of race or religion. We can hate because of economic differences. Lately we’ve been getting kind of pathetic creating anti-hate hate groups (groups that hate people who hate,) and the nutball things like Peta that give people that can’t control their hate an outlet. This is of course a temporary overflow valve. It’s like starvation where the body feeds on itself. We can’t do this too long, getting our hate out on Jerry Springer and Oprah.

Fortunately we got to hate Saddam Hussein for a while, but he doesn’t seem up to the role, just like Qadaffi, and Castro before him.

Mankind evolved in small groups “We,” that competed against other small groups, “they.”

“They” aren’t like us at all. They are different. THey want ot kill our babies and rape our women. They want to steal what is rightfully ours.

“We” have become countries, and now international communities. Where are “They?”

We know “They” are out there. It’s hardwired into our very brains, and nervous systems. We know that “They” are out to get us, and the fact that we can’t find “Them,” is somewhat ominous because that means that “They” are operating behind the scenes, unseen.

Without a readily apparent “they,” we make them up. We automatically form into groups of consanguinity, be it appearance, economics, or whatever. What are professional sports if not a battle of “we” and “they?”

But again, this doesn’t cut the mustard. Without something to strive against we become enamored of Pokemon, social activism, and the relentless pursuit of that most worthless of all human activities “fun.” We become a culture of fatso , amusement park thrill seekers striving for political correctness and meaning in a sea of irrelevance.

What we need is a great big boogeyman of a “they,” to get us scared off our asses and doing something meaningful.

Don’t you wnat somebody to hate?

Don’t you need somebody to hate?

WHere are "They’ when we need them most? I can’t beleive that “They” will let us down.

Don’t worry though, with a little luck Russia will revert, or China will go forth in search of food and resources. We may even get a Muslim Jihad to tide us over in the meantime.

Still, it would do me a lot of good to have a convenient enemy right about now.

How about you?

than a site about Christians hating Christians?

You can choose from a list of topics.

[I also posted this link in a pit thread about being rude to the religious, with a warning that the Matthew Shepard “memorial” could be extremely disturbing.]

Good site. I always knew there were more brands of wacko Christianity than I had heard of, but it’s good to have them all lined up like that. I like the commentary. Sometimes, letting them speak for themselves is the best indictment of all. And the best joke.

Hate the Amish?

How come? One of their carriages cut you off on the road once? :smiley:

Actually, I can think of a few areas in which some healthy hatred might be a GOOD thing!

Remember the 1992 Olympic Dream team? They were beating every country by 60+ points, and the opponents didn’t seem to mind! Foreign players were smiling gleefully while they got trounced (“Wow, did you see that? MICHAEL JORDAN just slam dunked in my face!”).

Now, realistically, the talent level of the US team was so great, in all likelihood nobody could have kept them close. Still, when you see such good cheer in defeat, there’s a problem.

The same trend developed in the NBA. Yes, Michael Jordan was a super player, but by the end of his career, teams seemed to roll over and die when they played the Bulls. And when it was all over, nobody could do anything but praise Michael to the heavens, as a great player and a great guy.

What’s wrong with that? Well… good sportsmanship is one thing, but hey, Michael was the ENEMY! Why weren’t teams doing what the old Pistons had done? In the days of Rodman, Laimbeer and THomas, the Pistons worked up a healthy hatred for Michael, and made him pay in pain for every point he scored. Why did teams stop doing that?

I see the same phenomenon in golf today. YES, Tiger Woods is a superb player, probably the best ever. He’s also a hard worker, a tough competitor, and (seemingly) a pretty nice guy. But why do other players roll over and die when they face him? Why don’t they work up some hatred? If they LOATHED him, they might actually give him a run for his money! Indeed, Hal Sutton is NOT a great golfer, but he’s done well a few times against Tiger precisley because he can’t stand the guy!

By most accounts, Dodger pitcher DOn Drysdale was a VERY nice man. But he ALSO had a reputation as a headhunter, a guy who’d throw at batters. to itimidate them. A TV interviewer asked him, decades after he’d retired, how he could throw at people.

Drysdale HAD been cheerful and smiling, but at this question, his demeanor began to change. You could see on his face that he was talking himself into hating his opponents again, YEARS after they’d all retired!

“Well,” Drysdale said, “We players didn’t make a lot of money in those days. I really needed that World Series check to pay my mortgage, and to save up for my kids’ college fund. And there’s Hank Aaron, at the plate. He’s trying to beat me. He’s trying to keep me out of the World Series. That son of a bitch won’t let my kids go to college…”

To succeed in some fields, it’s almost essential that you talk yourself into loathing your opponent. Guys who can’t do that are at a disadvantage.

For myself there is no we, im just too anti-social for that.

As for they… well i dont hate anyone either, in fact the SDMB is the only place that gets me angry.

Derleth:

It’s an interesting phenomenom. I often find on the tennis courts when I’m winning a match, my opponent will become all nice and talky during the changeovers. I think they do this on purpose to make it hard to hate them in the hopes that I will let up.

The best and and most satisfying matches involve unrepentant hostility, even if were good friends off the court.

Asmodean:

I’m sorry to hear that. Godd luck finding a worthwhile enemy.

Scylla, clearly, what is needed is a good ol’ hostile-extraterrestrial invasion. That’ll bring all (well, most) of humanity together in one Giant World of Hate. Yeah, that’s what we need…

instead of thinking of this as a competative society, think of it as a society that psycologically conditions people to be competative. look upon the entire society as a system to manipulate YOU. think of educators as manipulators who get kids to compete with each other, what matters is grades not knowledge. what good is an A in a totally useless course. when was the last time you discussed canterbury tales? did you cut the heart out of a frog in biology? when was the last time you saw a live frog? did you get a course in personal finance/accounting? did you know what an amortization schedule was when you graduated from high school? are you competing with brainwashed losers at losing? he who dies with the most toys wins? if all the cars are designed to become obsolete, why give a damn about any of them. buy a 3 yr old car with less than 40k miles, drive it 4-5 years. let somebody else absorb depreciation on a new car. 25-45% depreciation in the 1st year.

the system is rigged to screw the majority of people. they are supposed to compete at stuff that isn’t important.

figure out how to truly love yourself, not hate strawmen.

                                              Dal Timgar

Don’t you want somebody to hate?

Don’t you need somebody to hate?*

You’ve gotta find somebody to hate!

Wouldn’t you hate somebody to hate?

Seems to me that, in this decade since the Cold War ended, and even more so since Iraq disappeared into the back pages of the newspaper, this country’s been doing quite well, thanks, without anyone to compete against, let alone hate.

I’m sure we could put a man back on the moon today; it’s just that nobody sees a particular reason to actually do so. Been there, done that, got the pretty pictures; didn’t leave anything there that we really need to go back for.

And what’s wrong with meaningless entertainment? I’ll take a pass on angst for now, thanks.

I’m not going to be a part of a world where someone’s biggest ideal is to stir up hatred enough to get society moving. Hate is a negative emotion.

RT:

My point exactly. We are doing well. We are fat, lazy and stupid. There is no hardshpip toughening us. As a nation, we’re accomplishing nothing. It occurs to me that lacking a useful enemy, we may in fact become the enemy that the rest of the world tests itself on, failing that, perhaps like Rome before us, we will just sink into our own decadence, until some hungry young barbarians come and wipe us out.

Saint Zero:

“I’m not going to be a part of a world where someone’s biggest ideal is to stir up hatred enough to get society moving. Hate is a negative emotion.”

I suggest you leave now, 'cause I’m staying!

Hate is not a negative emotion. It’s built into us for the same positive reasons we are capable of Love. It gives us value in terms of community, survivability, and gene preservation. Stallions “hate” other stallions to the point where they will kill their enemies offspring and kick at pregnant mares to produce miscarriages. Lots of primates engage in similar behavior.

If there is somebody who has consistently caused you a great deal of hardship, it is in your own best interests to “hate” them to the point that you take action to end the threat.

Hate is like any other tool. It is not positive or negative in and of itself, it’s how you use it that matters.

When people say they don’t hate, I find it funny. It’s like saying you don’t breathe, and it is just as much a part of the human animal.

Stop deluding yourself. Give in to your hate. Join the dark side and together we will overthrow the Emperor as he has forseen and rule the galaxy!

I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they’d never expect it.

  • Jack Handy

You could try hating yourself, that way the object of your disaffection would always be close at hand. I figure the proximity, as well as the fact that you can’t get away, should provide you with plenty of energy for your day.

Maybe you should get a cat. Sure you think kittens are all cute and cuddly but they love to bite your ankles with their sharp teeth and shread you with their claws so they are easy creatures to hate. If one doesn’t work how about getting about fifty cats and never let them out. I am sure you would start hating them really quickly.

Nice try, Scylla, but I’m not buying it. I see it as competition, not hate. You can win or lose anything.

Saint Zero:

Haven’t left yet?

Have you ever seen a horse hate? I have. There is no mistaking the emotion.

Do you have kids?

Picture this:

You are in the park with your child, and suddenly he is not in your sight anymore. You search and search with growing panic but you cannot find him.

Suddenly in a secluded bush you hear a noise., You come around the corner to find your child forcibly subdued and a man about to molest him.

What emotions run through your head?

Love for your child and relief that he is still alive of course, but also rage and hate over what has happened, is happening, and was about to happen. I would think that that hate and rage would be the most consuming thing in the world at that moment.

I don’t think that it would matter if you a five foot tall butterball and the molester was an olympic quality athlete. The hate would take over, and it would help you save your child against a determined molester.

I don’t see that as a negative emotion.

Competition and hate of course are closely related. THe one often fuels the other.

Whether or not you buy it doesn’t matter. Hate is a part of you. It’s built into you. You need it, and it needs an outlet.

Dal:

Coming back to this after all this time, that makes an uncomfortable amount of sense.

in 1976 i read THE SCREWING OF THE AVERAGE MAN by David Hapgood. i was a cynic already but that book assured me i had the right attitude. LOL! it caused me to decide to read Samuelson’s Economics cover-to-cover to figure out what was wrong with what economists were telling us. that is how i noticed that depreciation of all durable consumer goods is completely ignored. i’ve decided to tell the world since al gore invented the internet.

Dal Timgar