A treason is always against oneself? Does a traitor really hate himself?

Question

I can´t understand the things that could take someone to do something against his own people, so I think it´s a fascinating discussion.

Answer 1

tI would think a traitor doesn't necessarily have to hate himself. I would assume it would more be a matter of his feeling no particular allegiance or loyalty with his own country or its people.

Of course, I suppose there could be circumstances when a person would feel threatened or intimidated into commiting a treasonous act; but the traitor who commits treason without being intimidated or otherwise forced into it probably just has no connection with his country or fellow citizens.

Answer 2

A treason is never against the self. A treason is against the state (in law, as already stated) or a person may become traitorous towards their employer, their friends or their partner. They may do this purely for personal gain, or because they feel let down or 'put upon' in some way.

The traitor doesn't hate himself - his crime is not against himself. A suicide, on the other hand is an example of a crime against the self. The latin for suicide is 'felo de se' - literally 'a felon of oneself'. This is the person who hates themself - certainly not the traitor!

Answer 3

G'day Silvio Soldan,

Thank you for your question.

In law, treason is the crime of disloyalty to one's nation or state. A person who betrays the nation of their citizenship and/or reneges on an oath of loyalty and in some way willfully cooperates with an enemy, is considered to be a traitor. Oran's Dictionary of the Law (1983) defines treason as: "...[a]...citizen's actions to help a foreign government overthrow, make war against, or seriously injure the [parent nation]." In many nations, it is also often considered treason to attempt or conspire to overthrow the government, even if no foreign country is aided or involved by such an endeavour.

Competing loyalties are often the cause of treason. These can be ideological such as in the case of British spies Burgess, Philby or McLean or religious as in the case of the London bombers on 7 July 2005. Greed can also be a cause such as in the case of Judas and the 30 pieces of silver or Benedict Arnold. Self-hatred is seldom a direct cause but may lead to the adoption of an extreme cause such as communism, Nazism or Islamofascism.

I have attached sources for your reference.

Regards

Answer 4

Traitors do not always hate themselves - quite the opposite in many cases. Often they seem to be motivated by a sense of loyalty to a different ideology, feeling quite righteous in their activities. Some shameful specimens do it solely for the money, or to avenge some real or imagined wrong done them by officialdom. I, too, find the subject of motivation for treason an interesting subject, but haven't really studied the matter.

Answer 5

A traitor is a confused one

Answer 6

His people don't give him the respect he deserve.

If you do things for your friends all of the time and they never say thanks, never ask you to do anything with them, talk bad about you, and the list goes on.

Then someone who occassionally inivite you to hang out with their friend, they treat you well, and appericate every little thing you do for them. Would you actually say no if they ask you to turn a traitor?

Answer 7

not hate just selfishness treason is done for self gain money or power. people will do anything for either of these.