Hatred as an Engine

Hatred has gained ground in contemporary societies, and its most obvious use is as a political weapon. Leaders of different backgrounds use it to bind political loyalties, especially when societies feel fragmented in their identity and purpose. Rallying people against something can offer an easy form of belonging.

Hatred, the article argues, is rarely an end in itself. It is a means of power. The less positive cohesion a society possesses, and the less developed its sense of a shared future, the more vulnerable it becomes to this kind of negative unity.

Its effect on an already weakened social fabric is destructive. A healthy democracy depends on the ability to recognize nuance and see reality as diverse rather than reducing it to one defining feature. Hatred denies that diversity. It flattens the other person into a single trait, chosen precisely because it makes that person easier to hate.

The article presents hatred not as an excess of emotion, but as a failure of perception. Love, curiosity and even sadness can add detail to the world, forcing people to notice distinctions and linger over complexity. Hatred does the opposite. It simplifies first, replacing real people, with their contradictions and shared humanity, with invented images.

That is why hatred can precede the object it claims to target. It does not necessarily arise from its victims. It searches for them and, if necessary, creates them. The article says digital platforms have transformed this mechanism from a handmade process into an industry, producing simplified silhouettes in large numbers. Only more democracy, tolerance and acceptance of diversity, it concludes, can counter the resentment spreading through society.