Hatred In Anarchists

[Revolte_Wolf]

While cautiously spooning through a Leftover Crack forum topic on Erik Peterson, the topic of anarchism came up, along with a very brief and nearly thoughtless (plenty of copy and paste) debate on hatred in anarchism. SO I thought about it and to touch on the notion of hatred in anarchists. It's simple, anarchism is NOT a hateful theory, but anarchists MUST have a sincere hate towards the system in order to accomplish anything. It's a very real hate and very passionate one at that, however it is beyond simply being animal hatred, it comes from a love. A love for a better world, a happier world, a freer world, but if an anarchist is to be passive about current systems, he/she is doing nothing, and will do nothing (assuming they continue to be passive), to better society. Hatred for the state is a needed trait for any leftist revolution.

[Nachie]

This is true but if you base your life only around the principle of aversion it will be very difficult for you to ever find any true happiness. I have definitely discovered this the hard way and have since been trying to let a lot more of the "love" in my motivations shine through.

You don't have to be passive about the current system, but don't let your hatred for it (or anything else) consume you, or it will drag you down and you will ultimately grind yourself to dust against it.

[meow]

anarchists might or might not hate. i hate the system capitalism and so on. but anarchism is not defined by hate. i am anarchist not cause of what i hate. but because of what i want. i want freedom. that is what makes me anarchist.
i try not to hate individuals. i realize that the ceo and politician are interchagable and you take out one another takes the place.

other anarchists also want freedom. but if they hate or not is up to individual.

--

so yes op. anarchism is not hateful. but whether or not anarchists need "sincere hate towards the system in order to accomplish anything" is debatable. i am not sure that anarchists as anarchists have accomplished much more then other socialists. i dont know if hate is needed. maybe. maybe not. i dont think there is enough evidence

[gorillafuck]

What is wrong with hating CEO's and people like that? They enslave the world. Hatred for them is fine, it just cannot become your primary motivation.

[Raúl Duke]

Anarchism, or any of the left ideologies as well, might have its fair share of spite (perhaps even class spite) but in a way Guevara was right that one could find motivation from the sense of solidarity or even love towards/among your fellow people (workers, students, your friends, etc).

[black magick hustla]

i like the aesthetic of nihilism

[meow]

What is wrong with hating CEO's and people like that? They enslave the world. Hatred for them is fine, it just cannot become your primary motivation.
people like to blame bush for many things. and now obama is elected everything is wonderful. yet that is obviously not true. does not matter who is in power the system makes them bad.
so what is wrong is thinking that if you take away the person the sysetm becomes better. or if only another person was in power.

hatred of individuals does nothing. it leads to potential wrong focus.

and the same for politicans is for ceos. corporations are phychopaths. it dont matter who is in charge. take bp does not matter who is in top job it is the entire management culture that said "ignore the problems with that drill" it wasnt one person. so environmental problems happen because of the company not the ceo or individual.

[AK]

What is wrong with hating CEO's and people like that? They enslave the world. Hatred for them is fine, it just cannot become your primary motivation.

hatred of individuals does nothing. it leads to potential wrong focus.
In a way, these are both right. For example, we could want to overthrow the generic capitalist and the generic politician - and not just blame all problems on "that one guy who dun goofed and got us into this whole mess".

[Os Cangaceiros]

The revolutionary enters the world of the State, of the privileged classes, of the so-called civilization, and he lives in this world only for the purpose of bringing about its speedy and total destruction. He is not a revolutionary if he has any sympathy for this world. He should not hesitate to destroy any position, any place, or any man in this world. He must hate everyone and everything in it with an equal hatred. All the worse for him if he has any relations with parents, friends, or lovers; he is no longer a revolutionary if he is swayed by these relationships.

I subscribe to this "GWAARRRGGHHH!!!!"-worthy philosophy of anarchism.

[Revolte_Wolf]

I dont know if hate is needed. maybe. maybe not. i dont think there is enough evidence.

True, there isn't, but I think that anarchism's loving passion comes along with disgust for the opposite of what the love is for and often a passionate disgust that leads to a hatred, but not thoughtless hatred (or so I would hope).

[Dyslexia! Well I Never!]

Anarchism stems from the desire to be free. Unoppressed, equally valid and possessing self determination, rather than being shat on by whomsoever might be in charge.

As such in the realisation and opposition of their oppression hatred towards oppressors is only natural (along with envy and freudian feelings we wont get into.) However, hatred alone is not constructive, and actual long term positive change can only be brought about by solidarity and can be expedited by the sharing of a common vision.

In other words: You're free, all you have to do is free everyone else and get them to agree on what freedom is.

[Magón]

people like to blame bush for many things. and now obama is elected everything is wonderful. yet that is obviously not true. does not matter who is in power the system makes them bad.
so what is wrong is thinking that if you take away the person the sysetm becomes better. or if only another person was in power.

hatred of individuals does nothing. it leads to potential wrong focus.

and the same for politicans is for ceos. corporations are phychopaths. it dont matter who is in charge. take bp does not matter who is in top job it is the entire management culture that said "ignore the problems with that drill" it wasnt one person. so environmental problems happen because of the company not the ceo or individual.

That's true, and I agree with you to a point. But hatred for an individual can, at times, lead to a potential victory. Like you said, corporations are psychopaths, but without a head, that crazed corporation wouldn't have anywhere to go or be able to do anything. Ultimately it's the CEO who makes the big decisions, and ultimately, the management below him are the ones to come out and do whatever the CEO says to do as final. So I don't see why hating a CEO is the wrong focus in some cases, because like you gave an example with BP, it was ultimately BPs former CEO (I forget his name sometimes) who decided it was best to ignore the problem. His management just followed orders. (Not that they're not to blame either, but a CEO is just as liable to be blamed and hated as much as the management below him.)

[Revolte_Wolf]

That's true, and I agree with you to a point. But hatred for an individual can, at times, lead to a potential victory. Like you said, corporations are psychopaths, but without a head, that crazed corporation wouldn't have anywhere to go or be able to do anything. Ultimately it's the CEO who makes the big decisions, and ultimately, the management below him are the ones to come out and do whatever the CEO says to do as final. So I don't see why hating a CEO is the wrong focus in some cases, because like you gave an example with BP, it was ultimately BPs former CEO (I forget his name sometimes) who decided it was best to ignore the problem. His management just followed orders. (Not that they're not to blame either, but a CEO is just as liable to be blamed and hated as much as the management below him.)

Well I think that having a hate towards individual people could distort your intentions a bit, if you are to end up focused on it anyway. In some cases I would say it's understandable though, and in the end without those certain people there wouldnt be a need to oppose what they created, but i still think its a dangerous thing to hate people individually, rather then the things they do or the stuff/situations they create.

[Magón]

Well I think that having a hate towards individual people could distort your intentions a bit, if you are to end up focused on it anyway. In some cases I would say it's understandable though, and in the end without those certain people there wouldnt be a need to oppose what they created, but i still think its a dangerous thing to hate people individually, rather then the things they do or the stuff/situations they create.

I agree, but if you want to stop them, the stuff/situations they create (which are probably against your ideology since you're not so friendly with them in the first place,) will stop. But I see what you're saying and agree that focusing on that one person doesn't make things better. But if you have a large enough force, you can accomplish many tasks at the same time, including getting rid of that threat or just hated person. ;)

[HammerAlias]

An anarchists beliefs cannot be defined by hate alone, it must be defined by what they advocate.

[Ravachol]

As a matter of fact, I think 'hate', i.e. an absolute, directed hostility is the prime motivator of genuine class struggle of any kind. The material conditions of our every-day lives generate a whole range of negative experiences which, naturally, construct a general hostility to the experience of life under Capital. When this hostility intensifies and is elevated to a conscious level, it might be described as 'hate'. And that's a good thing.

It's a good thing to 'hate' and, more importantly, to refuse that which constricts us. Class struggle is born primarily from this refusal, the search for a negation of the conditions of the present. It isn't born form positivist idealism, the innate 'desire' for some starry-eyed utopia. The desire for an alternative is only born as the consequence of our 'hatred' for the present.

[this is an invasion]

I don't see why hate and love or whatever you want to call it can't co-exist. My hatred for everything wrong with this world stems directly from the love I have for my friends, family, myself, nature, etc.

[Masta Chief]

I don't have hatred for people. I have hate for the system and the police who in Detriot are corrupt as fuck. But I try to teach and educate people about my beliefs. But if people talk shit or say it's stuipd,crazy,ect. thats when I will hate on people and tell them like it is.

[An archist]

La rage vient de l'amour frère, parce que sans amour, il n'y a pas la rage.
"Rage comes from love brother, because without love, there's no rage."

Indeed, if you're an anarchist, you love your fellow men and women, brothers and sisters. And if that's true, you can feel nothing but anger and rage at the system of capitalism and the state that keeps them under control, exploits them and kills them.