I wonder if "hate" is the best word here. Perhaps some people "hate" a generic top dog, but "hate" seems to be a person-specific (or team-specific) emotion, one, I would offer, is never justified. It seems morally OK to hope that someone or some team will fail or lose for reasons of fairness or hubris or undeserved privilege. But to hate them? Hm. Also, doesn't "hate" require that the one who's hated has done something or may potentially do something that negatively affects you or your moral sense personally?
I agree that the dynamics that I am talking about here aren't always best categorized by hate... Hate is rather a shorthand for a variety of other related emotions (e.g., hate, contempt, envy, desire to exclude, demean, etc.) that people might find it acceptable to express toward the advantaged.
I agree that it seems anodyne to express a preference for the underdog and even root against the top dogs. Top dogs are more likely to be impervious to my insults anyway. My point was that this can manifest into feelings of shadenfreude, or into negative stereotypes, or a general distaste, or, sometimes into hate or contempt or envy or a desire to exclude or a desire to demean.
I think our attitudes towards systems that are unfair, and our preference for justice, makes it super easy to project those feelings onto those who are benefitting from the system.
Regarding your question about hate requiring a negative personal impact, I think that's a crucial distinction. The emotion I'm referring to might not always stem from a direct personal affront but rather from a broader social or moral perception. You can hate your boss cuz he is an ass, or you can hate a group of people you have never met because of the stereotypes you assign to them. I think both matter, and the latter might be the case where it is easier to dehumanize the "other".
Thanks for these considerations. I agree with you. I can definitely see (have seen) where antipathies against a group can be excited and provoked further into hate and dehumanization. And it’s just one step, one opportunity from there to acts of violence, sometimes in the name of justice, sometimes just plain irrationally, just because of the hate. Of the former, you see it historically on the world stage against privilege in the form of political revolutions (French, Russian, Chinese) or maybe even in the Khmer Rouge’s killing of intellectuals and other urbanites in the 1970’s. Individual hate crimes provide plenty of evidence of the latter.
Glad to see a post from you again, Bruno!
I wonder if "hate" is the best word here. Perhaps some people "hate" a generic top dog, but "hate" seems to be a person-specific (or team-specific) emotion, one, I would offer, is never justified. It seems morally OK to hope that someone or some team will fail or lose for reasons of fairness or hubris or undeserved privilege. But to hate them? Hm. Also, doesn't "hate" require that the one who's hated has done something or may potentially do something that negatively affects you or your moral sense personally?
Thanks for the comment.
I agree that the dynamics that I am talking about here aren't always best categorized by hate... Hate is rather a shorthand for a variety of other related emotions (e.g., hate, contempt, envy, desire to exclude, demean, etc.) that people might find it acceptable to express toward the advantaged.
I agree that it seems anodyne to express a preference for the underdog and even root against the top dogs. Top dogs are more likely to be impervious to my insults anyway. My point was that this can manifest into feelings of shadenfreude, or into negative stereotypes, or a general distaste, or, sometimes into hate or contempt or envy or a desire to exclude or a desire to demean.
I think our attitudes towards systems that are unfair, and our preference for justice, makes it super easy to project those feelings onto those who are benefitting from the system.
Regarding your question about hate requiring a negative personal impact, I think that's a crucial distinction. The emotion I'm referring to might not always stem from a direct personal affront but rather from a broader social or moral perception. You can hate your boss cuz he is an ass, or you can hate a group of people you have never met because of the stereotypes you assign to them. I think both matter, and the latter might be the case where it is easier to dehumanize the "other".
Thanks again for your comment!
Thanks for these considerations. I agree with you. I can definitely see (have seen) where antipathies against a group can be excited and provoked further into hate and dehumanization. And it’s just one step, one opportunity from there to acts of violence, sometimes in the name of justice, sometimes just plain irrationally, just because of the hate. Of the former, you see it historically on the world stage against privilege in the form of political revolutions (French, Russian, Chinese) or maybe even in the Khmer Rouge’s killing of intellectuals and other urbanites in the 1970’s. Individual hate crimes provide plenty of evidence of the latter.