The Problem of Hate

"Luke! Don't give in to hate. That leads to the dark side."
--Obi-Wan Kenobi

One of the memorable features in Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 was a seven-day period of orchestrated mass hysteria directed towards the Party's current enemy. It served as a crucial element in maintaining the Party's control over the population by suppressing individuality and critical thought, strengthening social cohesion and loyalty, and channeling emotional energy towards the Party's goals.

Hate Week was a constant bombardment of propaganda and mass manipulation. Rallying against a common enemy not only served as a convenient outlet for negative emotions, it also prevented questioning of the Party or its policies.

It also facilitated an "us vs. them" mindset that strengthened the Party's rule by making dissenters seem like traitors and outcasts. 

Despite Orwell's warnings against being manipulated by the media as a mouthpiece for the State, the general public seems ever willing to be swept along in the current. For me, personally, all this hate saddens me. 

* * * 

One morning twenty or so years ago I decided to write some thoughts in my journal about hate.  What follows are the statements I recorded. 

Hate is used as a tool to manipulate masses, unite people.

Hate is used by hate-mongers to move people to action.

Hate makes people feel good (Having strong feelings makes them feel alive.)

Hate makes people feel bad (For hating, for being so controlled by it.)

Hate damages the hater.

Hate damages the hated.

Hate makes us irrational, difficult to reason with.

Hate will never solve interpersonal or international problems.

Hate is a form of slavery (to which we become chained.)

Hate can be a form of addiction (which makes us feel good about ourselves by deceiving us into thinking we are better than the hated.)

Hate is a serious problem in our world today.

Hate is evil.

Hate breaks things, damages and stains.

Hate produces great sadness in God’s heart.

* * * 

Returning to Orwell, here are some of the features of Hate Week:

Intense Propaganda Hate Week involved relentless exposure to propaganda through posters, banners, speeches, films, and even music, all demonizing the chosen enemy.

Two Minutes Hate This cathartic daily ritual forced the entire population to focus their rage and fear towards the enemy through televised images and orchestrated chanting. Public Displays Mass rallies, parades, and even physical attacks on effigies of the enemy fueled the emotional frenzy.

Loss of Reason and Critical Thinking During Hate Week, individuals were encouraged to abandon logic and embrace unbridled hatred, further solidifying the Party's control over their minds.

In Orwell's 1984, Hate Week serves as a powerful symbol of a ruling regimes' manipulation of mass emotions and the dangers of uncritical conformity. It underscores the importance of maintaining independent thought, which is also why keeping a journal, as Winston did, was forbidden.

I'll close with this comment I saw recently at the end of an article on Unherd: "Open hatred of people unlike you has become normalized. It’s the sort of thing that eventually, escalates into violence. Meet the new Jacobins, no different from the old ones."