In the Abstract

It is much easier to hate someone in the abstract.  I mean, hating a category is much easier to embrace than actual hatred of an individual person.

 

Is it easier to hate that 'Red State, Redneck,  Pickup Driving Moron, who spends all his waking hours watching NASCAR and blindly votes for whoever/whatever his preacher tell him to?' as compared to 'Uncle Bob, who certainly has some awkwardness but in general has been pretty decent?'.

 

(From another angle)...

 

Is it easier to hate that 'Commie, Blue State, Pot Smoking Hippie Vegetarian, who apparently wants people to be able to marry their pet rabbit?' or 'Aunt Jill, who always remembered my Birthday even though we hadn't talked for years?'

 

Do I have a point????

 

Maybe.

 

When we go to war, we raise our ire against the abstracts.  We reduce people down to an idea (it is much easier to kill them that way).  In the US Civil War, it was not the person from the next county, it was Rebels and Yankees.   During the Revolution, we fought the Red-Coats.  We reduce people to one charicature of an abstract so we can focus on it and ignore the fact that we are talking about a real person.

 

In theory, I should have family that hates me.   They are in the midst of the deep-south and bible belt.  They are preachers and Elders at very conservative churches.

 

In the abstract we should be at odds with one another.

 

In practice, however, we get along.

 

How weird is that?