You must have an enemy

Undertoad · 12-09-2010, 08:41 AM

Somewhere deep in our reptile brains, it seems we must have enemies, others we need to destroy or merely hate.

When I was growing up, it was easy; the Russkies were the balance of power, and it was a lot of fun hating them, because they sucked. When the Berlin Wall finally fell, it was strange to find no obvious enemy remaining in the culture; Hollywood returned to the Nazis as the people it was safe to hate on.

For a while it seemed like illegal drug merchants were making a play to be our big enemy but that didn't have much staying power for some reason.

Personally, you must have others you enjoy hating. Many of us enjoy hating the people on the other end of the political spectrum from us. Both sides sometimes get really feisty and sometimes they even wish slow painful deaths on certain politicians or pundits.

What is it with this instinct? Why is it built into us; are we defending ourselves from other tribes, or from dangerous animals that could kill us?

12-09-2010, 08:41 AM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	You must have an enemy Somewhere deep in our reptile brains, it seems we must have enemies, others we need to destroy or merely hate. When I was growing up, it was easy; the Russkies were the balance of power, and it was a lot of fun hating them, because they sucked. When the Berlin Wall finally fell, it was strange to find no obvious enemy remaining in the culture; Hollywood returned to the Nazis as the people it was safe to hate on. For a while it seemed like illegal drug merchants were making a play to be our big enemy but that didn't have much staying power for some reason. Personally, you must have others you enjoy hating. Many of us enjoy hating the people on the other end of the political spectrum from us. Both sides sometimes get really feisty and sometimes they even wish slow painful deaths on certain politicians or pundits. What is it with this instinct? Why is it built into us; are we defending ourselves from other tribes, or from dangerous animals that could kill us?

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