Thoughts on Rage and Hate

By Mike Hembury — SOAPBOX

We live in an era of rage, sure enough.

But I have to say, I’m not one for the politics of hate.

Seems everywhere you look these days there are hate-mongers popping up left right and center — but mainly right — and venting their grievances, real or imagined.

And when they start to talk, their voices are simmering anger, ready to boil over, their minds are seething cesspits of prejudice and violence.

I ask myself what that must do to your mind, all that hate.

I ask myself and I know the answer, because I’m no stranger to it.

I’ve hated the bosses and the fash, the spycops and the homophobes and the Thatcherites. I’ve hated the racists and the rapists and the oil companies and the politicians and polluters with different degrees of intensity and it’s never a good feeling.

Hate is a symptom of powerlessness, at least for the oppressed. Hate and despair are two sides of the same coin.

But hate is not something you can really control.

It’s something that controls you. Once you let it off the leash, it warps you out of shape. It can ruin your life, damage your spirit and harm your loved ones.