On April 7, Donald Trump, the current US president, announced that 8 pm ET on 4/7 was the firm deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. If the Islamic Republic’s leaders didn’t fully comply, Trump said he’d bomb them “back to the stone age.” He declared, with no trace of compassion or diplomacy, that “a whole civilization will die tonight.”
As of April 9, though, Iran is miraculously still in existence. A tenuous two-week ceasefire was announced on April 8 — which is already starting to crumble. Due to Israel’s unrelenting attacks on Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, Iran has again shut down the Strait of Hormuz.
What comes next is anybody’s guess.
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Photo by Luke Jernejcic on Unsplash
But let’s pause here for a moment. What the hell just happened? President Trump threatened to wipe out an entire civilization that goes back 7,000 years and massively predates the US. Many Americans were rightly and deeply horrified. But spineless GOP politicians were mostly mute — or else approved completely.
Despite the fragile ceasefire, Trump’s dire threats still loom over Iran — and the world. Trump and Secretary of War (um, Defense) Hegseth even paint their over-the-top aggression as “God’s will,” and insist that God “approves” and will ensure a righteous American victory. Yes, indeed, God is on our side, and will help us vanquish the godless heathens.
But wait, the Iranians are far from “godless.” Most are Muslims and also worship one god, Allah. They just happen to worship a differently-named God, and worship in different ways than “good Christians” in the US.
All the more reason to hate the *(%$@! Iranians and try to “obliterate” them (that’s Trump’s favorite, super-aggressive verb).
A vicious minority has seized control
This is a fraught, dangerous time, all around the globe. And one of the main reasons for this mounting danger is the explosion of American aggression and hatefulness aimed at much of the non-White, non-Christian world.
Under Trump, our hateful arrogance and militaristic violence have spiked, until the US has now become one of the most hated and feared nations on earth — a true “rogue nation.” We do whatever we want, take what we want, and steamroll or squash any nation or society that gets in our way.
At this point, American hatefulness and aggression are “givens.” However, not all Americans are on board with Trump’s violent, domination-oriented agenda. There may even be a large majority of Americans who disapprove heartily. But this majority is largely sidelined now, with the GOP totally controlling our federal government and supporting Trump’s every hate-filled move.
Thus, the US is deteriorating — fast! — under despotic, hateful minority rule. That’s why I say that many Americans — but not most (thankfully)— are hateful and vicious. Most of us are just seething on the sidelines and trying to find a way out of this horrid mess.
Yet these horrors are not new. The US has faced internal fascist movements before, and has a long, sordid history of racism, racist violence, and misogyny. What’s new is the extent to which these hateful ideas and policies have taken over and now dominate the US. And the US, in turn, is moving fast to try to dominate the rest of the world.
What is behind all this hate and aggression? Exactly why are so many Americans caught up in racist, hateful ideologies and/or religious and cultural “superiority”? That’s the question that haunts me.
Three widespread hateful patterns
I’ve thought about this question long and hard, and have arrived at some sobering (if not horrifying) conclusions. Though the US always paints itself as “the land of the free,” in many respects Americans are desperately unfree, oppressed, and frustrated. And this is by design. Our entire society is set up to coddle and reward a small (White) minority, while everyone else must settle for economic, social, and political crumbs.
Far from being “free” or supporting true, lasting freedom, the US has long been a ruthless, classist, and racist society. I see three primary ways the US is both anti-democratic (small “d”) and horribly unfair and unjust:
1) The US is a rigidly class-oriented society that worships individual wealth, yet only supports and promotes vast wealth for a tiny minority of White Americans — the top 2%, at most. The other 98% of us are relegated to comparative poverty and scarcity of social goods like quality education and healthcare.
2) The US is a heavily racist society that can’t or won’t give up its ugly racist “ideals.” Over the past decade, the racists and haters came out of the woodwork and successfully overturned most of the racial progress made during the 1960s-80s. Thus, positive social-change concepts such as supporting “diversity, equity, and inclusion” have been painted as “too woke” — and unfair to Whites. Across the US, crucial DEI initiatives have been spurned and dismantled.
3) American Christians have moved far to the right, and many now embrace the hateful, judgmental “ideals” and political aims of Christian Nationalism. Some are even eager to foment religious wars against Muslims and other non-Christians, with the express purpose of starting World War III and hastening “the Rapture” (in which “good Christians” will be wafted up to Heaven, while everyone else — the vast majority of humanity — will be cast down to Hell. I can’t think of a more hateful, cruel belief system).
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Wanted: more angry, frustrated, vengeful people
There are other facets of American society — such as poor public education — that no doubt also feed the US’s unique style of stark, divisive dysfunction. But what strikes me about the three central issues described above is that each of them is based on, and continually re-creates, a massive and painful “psychic pool” of constant comparison, judgment, and hate. Even without any additional issues or problems, these three issues together can (and DO) lead to intense, ongoing ethnic and religious hatred, imagined cultural and individual “superiority,” and deep divisiveness and conflict.
What they have in common is an insidious, separative quality that spurs constant comparison, envy, distrust, anger, and eventually, full-blown hate. Instead of focusing on the many human qualities we all share and the delightful variations between different ethnic groups and traditions, we’re trained to see differences as “bad” and mercilessly judge — and then reject — anyone or anything different from our own in-group.
This is an incredibly limited, constricted way of viewing and relating to the world around us. It has the unfortunate side effect of generating constant anger, fear, and frustration. Why? It’s pretty simple: under these belief systems, no one feels complete, compassionate, or magnanimous. Instead, people are trained to feel threatened.
The dangers of these limiting belief systems go even deeper, though. They train people to always feel dissatisfied, envious, and/or disdainful. Nothing is ever enough, or good enough.
No amount of wealth is enough; people still envy those “above” them who are even wealthier. No amount of White supremacy is ever enough; more always needs to be done to keep “those people” in their place. Mere Christian worship and being “saved” is not enough; Christian beliefs (and vile judgments) must be imposed on everyone and the entire nation.
And, guess what happens? People who are always dissatisfied, envious, and disdainful of “lesser” humans are inevitably frustrated, angry, and hateful. That’s how they’ve been trained to think and feel, and that is who they are (they believe).
While it’s possible for these hateful “true believers” to change and grow, it’s hard. It takes sustained, conscious effort — and almost everything in our culture pushes in the opposite direction, toward greater division, rage, and UNconsciousness.
A dark, hateful legacy
So, exactly why are so many Americans so hateful? At bottom, it’s because the dominant “culture” in the US trains and pushes us to be that way. We’re endlessly “groomed” to become angry, frustrated, judgmental haters whose greatest pleasure in life comes from subduing, conquering, or otherwise dominating other “lesser” humans.
It’s truly an insane way to live and be in this world. Yet, it’s also the perverse path we keep choosing, over and over again.
The way out is simple, but difficult. We’d have to forgo our arrogant, angry ways and choose something totally different: tolerance, love, appreciation, and social inclusion.
Clearly, most Americans are not “there” yet (if ever), so most of us keep reaffirming the same old sick, pain-producing patterns and beliefs. Sadly, horrifically, this means that many, many Americans will continue to languish and decay within their hate-filled social “bubbles.” Change and growth can be scary — and few are willing to “go there” and risk profound change.
Thus, many of us will stay “stuck” in our envy, fear, judgment, and hatefulness. Simply put, many Americans keep choosing hate and hateful behaviors. And unless that pattern shifts drastically, Americans will continue to be among the world’s most accomplished haters.
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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.
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