I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense,

[applegrove]

Post by @beingliberal

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From Notes Of A Native Son - James Baldwin

I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain


Applegrove:

Anyone else feel like we are reliving the 50s and 60s?

[CivicGrief]

1. Answer to applegrove:

Do you mean 1850s and 1860s? If so, yes.

[CivicGrief]

7. And on the Baldwin quote,

I think it simply means that to be filled with so much hate you must have some kind of serious pain, otherwise, why not just give up the hate.

[bottomofthehill]

2. There is a lot to unpack here.

You are clearly on to something. I revel in each arrest, each sentence, each trial, each bang of rhe gavel. The conviction rate is astronomical. These fucking insurrectionists we’re making their own evidence, videotaping, photographing, creating a trail that even Hellen Keller could follow to make an easy arrest and get an easy conviction. I hate those who attacked the Capitol on 1/6, hate them even more because they are us, our neighbors, our friends children, doctors, nurses, cops, firemen, accountants, real estate agents, bartenders, elected politicians, military members and retirees. What the fuck happened. How did it happen, how could they be so stupid. If I stop hating them and try to understand them, then I will be in pain. I will be sad that educated people, professionals, educators, white collar, blue collar decided that political violence is ok in our United States. We were supposed to be evolving into a more perfect Union, we are instead rolling back. It’s easier to hate them than realize the back slide, and worse to think that the back slide was happening on our watch. My real wish is to leave a better USA for my children and grandchildren and I feel that I am failing. 1/6 was just such a step back…….

[ret5hd]

3. The "angle" I initially interpreted this from...

was more like:
After the haters stop hating, they will have to recognize and atone for the pain they and their ilk have caused throughout history.

But then, as you say, there is a LOT to unpack here.

[erronis]

4. That's how I saw this - very much like atonement for past harms.

12 step programs (I think - never made it past step 1 or 2).

But this is a hard process and a necessary one to get out of the false skin and back into being oneself.

When it also means losing your community of like-minded people that are probably not going to follow you in your new journey, then it's really difficult.

[bottomofthehill]

5. I am not proud of it, and I should be more like USCP Officer Harry Dunn but

It’s easier to hate the insurrectionists than think that 45 percent of the country will vote for trump again. That is amazingly depressing to me. We all saw what happened on 1/6. Some of us even had front row seats and yet people are willing to vote for that guy again. It literally depresses me to a point that sadly makes it easier to rage and hate than to look reality in the eye.

[applegrove]

6. I think the pain is that the US oligarchs have robbed them of the chance

Last edited Fri Sep 8, 2023, 10:54 PM - Edit history (1)

of a good union job and thus a chance at a fishing boat (or cabin) in retirement. They are barely making it. GOP Government in red states is making their lives less secure. So they get off the financial troubles anxiety train and scapegoat those the cult says they should scapegoat. It feels awful to not be middle class. By joining a cult, they have a perfect relationship with Trump and can forget their sorrows. They live through him. They hate through him. They are not of themselves.

I don't think the majority of Trump cultists would ever feel guilty about how they have terrorized one group or another. When they lose, or Trump dies, they will just be bitter and in pain. Why Democrats are fixing union membership. They want to grow the middle class so people jump on the middle class train and dream about that cabin in the woods again.

Baldwin is referring to the pain that people then project when they hate others who have done nothing to them and they have not much to be thankful for in their own lives. Like how the wealthy in the south kept poor whites poor so their hate against poc was baked into the economy along with their lack of chance at a middle class life. The hate made them belong..... somewhere. The wealthier whites lived like plantation owners that was dependant on poc getting paid shit. Again a nice life that would be threatened if there was not hate of poc. Again the pain of not being as well off as you want. IMHO.