How do you come to hate a whole group of people?

Question

I am just curious as to how you determine that a whole group in society is evil or that you hate a whole group of people without knowing them? I slam Bush and some others on here, but I also have a lot of friends and a family that is mostly conservative. I would love to know how the people on here who say all liberals or all conservatives are destroying America came to that conclusion?

Answer 1

It makes absolutely no sense to do this. The range of variations in beliefs for both conservatives and liberals is just too big to paint them all with the same brush.......

Answer 2

It's because the most vocal people are usually the most radical and hateful. Take a look at MoveOn they don't represent all liberals but they're constantly making noise and hateful attacks so they're well known and anyone who isn't paying attention would think that all liberals are hateful and close minded.

It's like looking at the KKK and saying "all white men are racists."

The problem is that when one's "team" is being attacked, we automatically get in the defense mode. So if one of our team says or does something stupid then we either ignore it or defend that person because it gives the other "team" the opportunity or justification to attack some more.

A good example is Al Gore. A smart, mature politician would've done many things different.

1. He would not have conceded and then taken back the concession. This made him look petty and forced his party to back him up on his pettiness. He should've just not conceded at al and then allowed Florida law to do a complete recount.

2. He would not have picked only Dem-controlled counties to recount or asked to throw out military absentee votes. It made him look bad and forced the party to back him up, making the party look bad.

3. Once he conceded the first time, a smart & mature man would've simply congratulated Bush and urge all of America to support the new President. With the popular vote on his side, he could've easily been renominated and won the presidency outright in '04.

What Al Gore wound up doing was to act like a petulant child which alienated him from the public. The Dems were ashamed of his behavior but couldn't outright disown him so allowed him to be the poster child for the far-left screaming about betrayal, etc. all the while gently keeping their distance.

While most of America just wanted to get back to normal, Al Gore kept screaming and helped start the cottage industry of Bush hatred with the help of his less mature "team mates."

Suddenly people who would've normally have voted Bush out of office were now fearful of what looked to them as an America hating mob. They thought it better to vote for a guy that doesn't quite have it together than to allow a bunch of crazy people to take over.

In order to polarize a nation a person or group has to actually urge half of the nation to go against the other half. So you see, all Bush did was win an election under questionable circumstances. It was Al Gore's actions with the help a bunch of crazies who urged us all to go against everything the other side was for.

That action resulted in the Right becoming more steadfast and less willing to listen to Liberals just as Liberals are not willing to listen to Conservatives.

Whoever wins the Presidency must bring the parties together and disavow far right & far left ideologies. They need to amend the Constitution to give the next President the Line Item Veto which would force the President to do the right thing and not hide behind excuses that Congress has added pork. It would also keep Dems & Reps from adding amendments to good bills in order to make them distasteful if passed.

We need to grow up.

Answer 3

Great question! Like you, I have many friends and relatives who who represent liberals, conservatives, moderates, etc. I've even made some damned good liberal friends on this forum and although we might not agree on much of anything, we respect each other and don't go into the put downs, name calling and NEVER troll each others accounts.

Keep in mind that the hateful ones from both sides, generally represent the extremes, and certainly don't represent the masses.

And there ya go... Skip the person right below me and go down to the next one and you'll see exactly what I mean. This person clumps everyone together and I love how he manages to speak on behalf of all of us. And people who give thumbs up to nonsense like that are just as guilty.

Answer 4

well you just admitted you slam bush, do you know him? how can you judge him without knowing him? it is called ignorance, and closed mindedness when someone dislikes a whole group of people, such as if a white person dislikes a black or so forth. which is how prejudices,and discrimination comes about.
what your talking about are political ideas which are out there for all to see and decide for themselves. i do not know George bush or Nancy Pelosi personally, so therefore i have no personally opinion of them in that way. i do however no where they are politically and can make a judgment from that for voting. and if i like express my opinion on them politically.

Answer 5

This one is easy.......it is called our media. Most Americans actually believe the bull they hear in the news. DO people actually think there is only 15 minutes of news in the world per day.......and CNN just does a loop?

Congress needs to wake up and take back our country! For the people! How much more do we have to be robbed of our money and our rights as Americans? Labels are for the lame that have to go off on tangents instead of looking at the real issues. AUDIT OUR GOLD RESERVES!

Answer 6

Easy, you become a Democrat.

Democrats politically supported slavery until the first Republican President issued the emancipation proclamation. During the Civil War the Democrats in New York city so opposed the war that they had riots where they lynched blacks from street lights, not having trees around. New York city wanted New York to join the Confederacy, but, was over ruled by the rest of the state.

After the Civil War President Andrew Johnson, a fine upstanding Democrat, vetoed the original civil rights act and then over turned executive orders providing lands and monies to former slaves. For over a hundred years Democrats opposed civil rights legislation, in the sixties they realized they were beaten and a few gave in and voted with the Republicans.

Democrats were so in bed with the KKK for over a hundred years that candidates were often selected at KKK meetings.

Rep Martin Dix, fine Democrat that he was, started a little Congressional committee called the House Un-American Activities committee, Sen Joseph McCarthy was not on that one, which created the famous Communist Black List and persecuted people for their attachment to communism. In 1975 the HUAC changed its name to the House Judiciary Committee, and yep, it is still run by Democrats even after all these years.

Oh and lets not forget that wonderful imprisonment of so many Japanese by a Democrat President and his Democrat Congress.

I could keep going, but, if you really want to know how to hate people listen to Democrats talk about Republicans these days. The Democratic rhetoric is exactly the same today as it was during the Civil War only these days it is directed at a political opponent instead of a racial opponent.

Answer 7

It is most likely due to the talking heads on the teevee or radio who just constantly rail against the group they (have been paid to) hate. Some people can't think for themselves. So then those people take up the crusade and then cause the people they are hating on to act the same way back to them. Nobody wins.

Answer 8

great question and one that I have wondered about for some time. I have lived in "Red States" all of my life. In doing so, most of my friends are Conservatives. Many "hate" Liberals and have no idea I am a Liberal. It doesn't take more than a few minutes on yahoo to see that there are a lot of people that hate Liberals. I don't think many of them have a clue what a Liberal is.

This problem started with Rush Limbaugh and has continued with his many clones. They preach hate 24/7 and they do so by lying about Liberals. Unfortunately, too many people believe the lies and now hate Liberals. Even worse is the fact that they are passing this crap down to their children.

Answer 9

It's very easy to hate and berate a whole group of people. Especially when you've never had personal interaction with anyone from that group, and when you're just spouting off the beliefs of your parents, or your friends, or your teachers, even, rather than thinking for yourself.

Answer 10

It's very easy for people to get into an "us" and "them" mentality. Maybe from our early days when strangers were often bad news for the group?

If parents, friends, religious leaders or the media foster that attitude it seems to bypass the brain and go straight to the emotions.