Considering what’s going on in the world today, I think this poem from 1917 is appropriate:
The Beginnings – Rudyard Kipling
It was not part of their blood,
It came to them very late
With long arrears to make good,
When the English began to hate.
They were not easily moved,
They were icy-willing to wait
Till every count should be proved,
Ere the English began to hate.
Their voices were even and low,
Their eyes were level and straight.
There was neither sign nor show,
When the English began to hate.
It was not preached to the crowd,
It was not taught by the State.
No man spoke it aloud,
When the English began to hate.
It was not suddenly bred,
It will not swiftly abate,
Through the chill years ahead,
When Time shall count from the date
That the English began to hate.
Thoughts?
I have tried for most of my adult life to avoid hating someone else. As Heinlein pointed out, few people see themselves as a villain, so there is a possibility that an understanding, and then accommodation, can be reached. Young and ignorant (in the neutral meaning of this word) firebrands may mature with age and eventually embrace some form of live and let live, even if it is along the lines of “mutually assured destruction.”
I no longer believe that is possible. The progressive left has moved further into the attitude of no compromise with no quarter offered. Their way or you will be attacked and even killed. Every interaction begins with in-your-face screaming and provocation to a fight. They only reveal themselves when they have large numbers of prepared thugs. These are not mere demonstrations, but paramilitary operations of urban warfare.
And now, once again, one of those motivated by the unceasing and hyperbolic rhetoric smearing anyone who doesn’t comply with them has murdered one of the primary targets of a hate campaign, Charlie Kirk. For being an outstanding debater who was breaking their monopoly of thought on college campuses. (I see the same hardened attitude and willingness to resort to murder in radical, fundamentalist Islam. Maybe this similarity of attitude explains some of the support the leftists have for Hamas and the like.)
So, yes, I now actively hate these people. The ghouls are dancing in Kirk’s blood, stating in social media that they approve of his murder and want the same for others like Trump, Musk, Matt Walsh, etc. People on news networks are spouting vile hatred out loud, on screen. Teachers are posting in a similar vein, proving what many of us suspected for years, that they are mere propagandists, masquerading as instructors. These people have no morals in the traditional sense, and no fear of consequences when they believe that their comrades in black robes will ignore the law and their oaths of office to fight for their side regardless.
Yes, I have begun to hate. I still resist the urge to initiate violence, but I am no longer willing to offer to parlay if attacked. And I will play El Deguello as I respond. If they want war, then we shall give it to them.