Hate Doesn’t Deserve Equal Time
So don't give it that.
Hate doesn’t deserve equal time.
We have no obligation to give equal time to hate — or give it equal footing. No such obligation exists.
So why do we pretend that we should listen to hate? Why does our legacy media give it equal play? (And our partisan media gorge on it?)
Why do we act like hate is just the other side of the story?
It makes no sense to me. Never does. Never will.
Hate Isn’t the Flip Side of a Coin
Hate is the aberration, not a norm. It’s the result of an imbalance in thinking. A reaction, not a healthy and measured choice. A warpedness of the human mind. Pollution.
And — worse than that — hate takes the interesting parts of you, the parts that love and respect and show an aching, beautiful vulnerability, and makes them something lesser. Like Toni Morrison wrote:
“Hate does that. Burns off everything but itself, so whatever your grievance is, your face looks just like your enemy's.”
Toni Morrison once said something else about evil — and I think it applies to hate to a certain extent:
She was likely right that everybody was dumb and just looking for something interesting to do … but she was wrong about evil being boring.
Evil and hate are captivating to our society, at least in America. And good is considered boring, hard work for suckers.
That’s messed up. And yet this is how many people believe and live.
But how do we change things? How do we make good attractive to a nation that gets most of its info through Instagram and TikTok?
Is that even possible anymore?
Particularly in a society that has largely abandoned its free press and instead prefers to be fed angry stories by a partisan right-wing news machine. How do we do make love of everyone a cool thing?
Yet we must try.
And so I thank you for any and all good you are doing in this world. It’s important. Don’t give up.
“Don’t let anybody, anybody convince you this is the way the world is and therefore must be. It must be the way it ought to be.” – Toni Morrison
Bonus Short Clip Worth Watching: “If you’re angry, you’re not free.”
Bonus Read:
Not sure if it was being raised in the 70s or it was more the Reagan era politics or church-was probably a murky stew-but anyway…I wish that suspicion and looking for or negative wasn’t the default. It’s like trickle down compassion too. Balance is my challenge of life!
It takes so much effort to be mean and hateful it must be exhausting. Ain't got time for that. And I re-read your piece on the basketball coach. I had forgotten about that pink jacket. :-0