Friday 29 March 2024

Hatred is ultimately linked to ignorance

I’ve noticed a recurring thread in the recent events all over the world.

Whether it is the alarming support for Trump as he runs for President of the most powerful country in the world on a platform which appeals to bigotry, or the hooligan violence at Euro 2016 or the massacre at a gay club in Orlando.

It is the hatred of the “other”; those who are different, who are not like us, although the “us” in this demographic keeps changing depending which side of the fence you are on and what your pet peeve is. And more often than not, the hatred is as a result of a dire lack of general knowledge and a profound ignorance which stems from a lack of reading. Sometimes it is simply a refusal to mix with people of a different cultural, political or religious belief system, because so many are content to surround themselves with clones who are carbon copies of themselves so that they do not have to question or open the doors of their minds even just a crack, but can all sit around, nodding furiously and agreeing among themselves on any given topic. It’s so much nicer and safer that way after all, isn’t it?

Those applauding Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric (including many Maltese people who seem to think that Trump is the best invention since sliced bread) do not see beyond his anti-immigrant rhetoric and fail to connect the dots that his hate speech is potentially dangerous for all of us.

The mass shooting at the Pulse club in Orlando has given more fuel to Trump’s fire because the gunman was said to have proclaimed allegiance to ISIS. But Omar Mateen was born and raised in the United States so the illegal immigrant argument does not wash. The US is made up of second and third generation immigrants so what does Trump plan to do – deport anyone whose ancestors did not arrive on the Mayflower (even though they, too, were immigrants). Mateen’s obvious homophobia was the problem and what appears to be his own repressed sexuality according to latest reports which state that he visited gay chat rooms and had even frequented the same club himself. The other glaring problem of course, is that people like him can buy a machine gun so easily in the first place.

Some comments I saw bizarrely tried to blame Obama for this latest shooting, because he has done nothing “to change the gun laws” when the President’s efforts on this issue have been continuously blocked by Republicans in Congress (backed by the powerful gun lobby, the NRA). Again, everything points to a superficial reading of headlines, because many are simply too lazy to delve deeper into an issue but just fire off a comment parrot-style.

Meanwhile in France, what should be a celebration of football has been plagued by violence, between what are said to be trained Russian hooligans and British fans, who are themselves no strangers to hooliganism. In fact the Russian ‘fighters’ as they call themselves are considering it a badge of honour that they are hitting back against English supporters in these clashes. One Russian was quoted by the BBC as saying, “In the 70s and 80s everyone would bow down before the English… Now there are different hooligans. These are different times.”

It is all very pointless, has ruined the atmosphere of the long-awaited Euro 2016 and has threatened to disrupt other international events as well, including the World Cup.

And while here we may not (as yet) be facing the possibility of a demagogue as leader or violent football clashes or hate crimes against gays or mass shootings, the hatred and aggression which is spewed on a daily basis online against those who are different is enough to leave you with a very bitter taste.

Once again, this is a result of ignorance, a superficial understanding of current events and a parochial, insular mentality which prevents people from accepting a divergent point of view, but insists on a “I’m going to badger you to death with my opinion” kind of approach to discussion. I have lost count of the number of topics which could be potentially interesting, that become completely derailed and which degenerate into a free-for-all of name calling and insults because of an inability to stick to the point. In too many instances, the default position of many people is to resort to ad hominem attacks rather than to debate the actual topic at hand.

Nowhere is this more the case than when it comes to politics which has veered away from discussing what the politicians do, but has for several years now become an excuse to target private citizens simply for their political views. The way things stand, I can only see this getting worse in a tit-for-tit type of retaliation which, much like a gunman machine-gunning everyone in sight, cares very little about who gets hurt.

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