Two Minutes' Hate

 While listening to Orwell's 1984 on Audible during my commute last week, one of the things that I noticed was the use of hatred by the Party to control people. It seems to be a common authoritarian tactic. Nazis used hatred of Jews, queer people, and immigrants. I'd been taught the word "scapegoat" when I was in elementary school. It's a tactic that authoritarians use to rally support. They say such-and-such minority group is why things are so bad in our country, so give me power to exterminate/deport them. And it seems to be quite effective.

I have no background in behavioral psychology. My knowledge about it is that of a layperson. So I was curious about how the emotion of hatred is at acting as a unifying force. I found this article on the matter which discusses why hope is more effective than hate. I also found a scholarly article explaining why hope is better than hate.What I understand about it from reading those is that hatred burns out quickly. It isn't sustainable. It's great at mobilizing a movement in the early stages, but it's impossible to maintain long term. Orwell showed hatred being sustained by a daily "two minutes hate" at lunchtime, where all the Party members would gather and watch a video about Goldstein, the fictional leader of the resistance, talking about destroying the Party. All the audience would shout how much they hate him. From my own personal experience, I believe it's not easy to maintain that level of hatred long-term. And I can understand why love and hope would be more sustainable and even more unifying.

This topic has come into my mind because I see so much hate going around. I see conservatives who delight in ICE rounding people up and deporting them to other countries, even when it's not their country of origin. I see people gleeful at others receiving harsh sentences when convicted of crimes. I see people so easily calling for the death sentence or assassination of people they dislike or disagree with. The more I see the actions of the current authoritarian regime in the White House the more I feel hatred welling up inside me. I don't want to end up bitter, jaded, and hateful. I just don't want to be that kind of person.

The reason I hold nearly every one of my political beliefs is out of the desire to make life better--for myself and for other people. I believe in mass amnesty and a loosening of regulations and requirements for becoming a US citizen. I believe in redistributing wealth from the richest to the poorest in our country. I believe that healthcare shouldn't be something that people have to fear--that the diagnosis of an illness shouldn't mean impending bankruptcy or simply going without treatment for the average American. I believe in love and acceptance and letting people make their own decisions for their own lives. I believe people deserve basic human rights regardless of citizenship status.

I hope that people will see the horrible and inhumane things that ICE is doing and they will oppose it rather than support it. I worry because I see Trump and his cabinet pushing the narrative that liberals are violent terrorists and enemies of the state. He has declared antifa to be a terrorist organization even thought it isn't even an organization. I am antifa. It is a contraction of anti-fascist. I am opposed to fascism and therefore am anti-fascist. Declaring anti-fascist people an enemy of the state is effectively asserting that the state is fascist. I don't want a fascist government. I want a government that serves the people, not one that controls people. 

I've heard the saying that history repeats itself because no one was listening the first time. Sadly, that seems to be the case as we're currently watching the events leading up to WW2 play out right before our eyes here in the US. I named this post after the event described in 1984, but also for the double meaning. My hope is that, as the psychology article asserts, the hatred of this movement will eventually die out. We'll see the two minutes' worth of hatred for immigrants, autistic people, and trans people play out and burn out. My hope is that eventually enough people will see it for what it is and it will end. I mean to do my part to contribute to hope more than to contribute to escalation of violence and more hate. I want to help build a society which is better for all, not better for some. I want to see all people lifted by a rising tide. I don't want to see people oppressed and put down and shoved further into humiliation and poverty. I want to see dignity restored. I want to see compassion valued.