Raes On: Hatred

[Raesvelg]

Had a brief conversation on this in the chat box earlier, and I just had this urge to expand upon it. Back in the old days I'd have used the blog feature for this, but since I'm pretty sure that that particular bit of functionality is gone forever, I suppose I'll just post it here.

All things considered, I'm actually not nearly as full of hatred as I sometimes pretend to be. I understand too much to hate. I mean, I can't hate a corporation; it's an evil, soulless entity by its very nature, it's not like the corporation can be other than what it is. Likewise I can't really hate politicians; they're evil, soulless whores by their very nature, and it's not like I ever trusted any of them to begin with.

Hatred is a personal thing. I could hate an individual, but there are vanishingly few that I actually do. The people I've butted heads with over the years, do I hate them? Not particularly. I don't particularly like them, and in some cases I feel the world would be better off without them, but that's just a cold appreciation of reality, as far as I'm concerned.

Short of aggressive action (murder, torture, things like that), there's really only two things I can think of that would cause me to hate someone.

I hate it when people lie to me.

And I hate it when people betray my trust.

God help you if I decide you've done both of those things.

Most of the little indignities we put up with, those are the source of at best a sort of mild irritation and disappointment. But lying and betrayal, those... those are what passes for a mortal sin in the Raesverse.

Something else I've never understood though. People who hate easily, for one, but more importantly people who wish that the people they hate would die.

I just don't get that.

I mean, death is quick. Bang, pow, it's all over, and the dead feel nothing.

If you really hated someone, with the sort of burning intensity that I feel from time to time, wouldn't you want them to suffer?

The apocryphal curse "May you live in interesting times" is one thing. But I've always liked the other:

May you live forever.

For that tiny, select club of people who I actively hate?

I wish them a long, long life. A life wherein they will see everything that they love wither and die. Where everything that brings them joy slowly turns to ruin. A life that will finally end when they are alone, unloved, forgotten and despised.

Wishing death on people, even a horrible death? Psh. That's for wusses.

 

[Acutie]

Of course may you live forever is more badass, Leonidas said it. The biggest badass in history.

 

[Zoolander]

I have a somewhat similar stance. I generally have quite a bit of empathy and I am pretty good at understanding the validity of two different positions. Hating someone also requires far more energy than its worth.

Kinda reminds me of this:




Apache shit! haha

 

[Dancingweapon]

I feel that when people throw out the "I wish you were dead" thing, I feel it's more or an impulse thing. Hell if people died every time that thought came into my head, we'd be living in a very empty world right now.

 

[Tyrath]

What about the ones where you don't care so much that they suffer, but you just feel like life would be better without them? lol

But yeah, being an atheist and not really seeing someone I hate suffer in hell and stuff, I too think death is too quick and easy.

 

[ShomeGhuye]

What about the ones where you don't care so much that they suffer, but you just feel like life would be better without them?

I used to feel that way about somebody. Funny thing is, he died.