6/3/26:
It seems that I get into these modes of thinking with regards to what seems to be intractable problems. One of these is this negative attitude referred to as oikophobia--which to me is a hatred of the elite for one's own people. Or those who prefer to use hatred of others as justification for their own behavior.
Christianity teaches as a commandment to "love one another". That may be a problem for some folks who think that Christianity is the problem. Well, you can hate something, say Christianity for instance, and still use its ideas if those ideas are good. If you think hatred is a bad thing, why not try this Christian thing?
Ah! But people may not always agree on what "love" is.... Therefore, they could justify horrors by claiming it IS love that drives them to doing what they do.
Or you could just try to find a solution for the problem, whatever it is.
But you cannot please all the people all the time. Some folks are just going to be what they are. You cannot tell them anything...
1/25/13:
First, the term "oikophobia" has to be defined, which can be found here and here.
Basically, that's what I've been writing about. Oikophobia is the hatred of the familiar which, in the case of the nation, it is the hatred of one's own people.
So, why wouldn't an "oik" try to sabotage any effort at truly improving a situation? Why not do the opposite and try to destabilize and destroy the current order since you hate it?
By "current order", I mean the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. By "current order", I mean capitalism. By "current order", I mean the very things that have brought us our wealth and prosperity. By "current order", I mean Western Civilization. The right to self-defense and so on and so forth.
To the left side of the political spectrum, America is bad, and must be changed. But changed how and in what manner? To destroy those things described above as the "current order"?
To the right side, the left is only misguided and not evil. Therefore, at least some on the right will not engage the left and fight them. If you prefer not to fight, might you try some other way?
I've offered my thoughts on the subject of Oikophobia. I suggested finding common ground on which an environment could be fostered so that solutions to problems could be found. But what if the common ground is studiously being avoided? What if the common ground is being avoided for the purposes of furthering the attitude of Oikophobia itself? Perhaps the clang and discord is what is desired and not the clang of hammers which are the sounds of building the new ways and means that will solve our problems.
How far does this phenomenon of Oikophobia go? Some of those on the right presume that it is only the left that has this problem. But if you don't actually seek solutions to problems that your adversary claims to exist, perhaps you would prefer the noise that accompanies the opposition? The noise that confirms you in your disgust with your own people?
Let's not hate people, let's hate bad thinking.
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