The power of hatred is so strong that opponents of hatred motivate their supporters by hating the haters

Hat tip to John Stuart Mills On Being Offended at Other People’s Opinions or Private Conductby Miles Kimball.

Kimball points out a new paper The Political Economy of Hatred by Edward L. Glaeser. This appears very timely given the assassination of two police officers on the 20th as a direct consequence of the politically driven protests and channelled hatred exploiting the Ferguson and NYC verdicts.

What determines the intensity and objects of hatred? Hatred forms when people believe that out-groups are responsible for past and future crimes, but the reality of past crimes has little to do with the level of hatred. Instead, hatred is the result of an equilibrium where politicians supply stories of past atrocities in order to discredit the opposition and consumers listen to them. The supply of hatred is a function of the degree to which minorities gain or lose from particular party platforms, and as such, groups that are particularly poor or rich are likely to be hated. Strong constitutions that limit the policy space and ban specific anti-minority policies will limit hate. The demand for hatred falls if consumers interact regularly with the hated group, unless their interactions are primarily abusive. The power of hatred is so strong that opponents of hatred motivate their supporters by hating the haters.

I think this hardly veiled effort by advocates and their supporters in media to generate hatred toward particular groups (for example towards fraternity members, towards white males, towards homemakers, towards conservative women, towards police, towards bankers, towards patriots, towards individualists, etc.) is what is undermining the great Gramscian game.

If we could get rid of the Gramscian memes without all the hatred it would faster, easier, better and not nearly so destructive to all concerned.