Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.
All they that live by the sword, shall die by the sword.
I would rather lose a campaign about decency than win one about self-interest.
You may have wondered how extremely negative people can suck others into a destructive political dialogue, dominating the news at the same time. You might wonder all the more when you come across a multibillionaire spending comparatively little of his own money to hijack a major political party.
Seduced by the Dark Side of the Force
It is tempting to compare Donald Trump to Darth Vader in Star Wars, as Trump makes no pretense of being a good person, but is most happy to pit one group of people against another.
After all, Darth Vader was the real star of the saga, as he played the part of a villain perfectly, making Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia look like angels of light.
You will also find a striking similarity between Donald Trump and Adolph Hitler, who toppled the German Republic of Weimar. Hitler was the minister of propaganda for the NAZI party before rising as a seemingly invincible Fuhrer.
While Trump is no longer debonair and handsome, he knows how to play the media masterfully. He does with PR what it takes other candidates tens of millions of dollars to do with advertising.
You might also think of the success of the British empire in the 19th century in seizing most of the continents of Africa and Asia, along with the entire Middle East, into its vast economic and political orbit.
The British had pioneered steam power with the locomotive and steamship. Yet the real advantage they yielded was the ability to divide and conquer: to turn one faction of a targeted company against the other.
How Hatred Is Commercial Suicide
This is all a bit strange when you consider that, in sales, only positivity really works. You are reaching out to people you may not even know, putting yourself in their position, listening empathetically and coming up with practical solutions that will enhance their lives.
Of course, in sales you are competitive. You wish to stay light years ahead of other companies. Yet you succeed by drawing attention to your own technological breakthroughs, and what they can do for your prospect.
It is most significant that Buddhism, when considered as a religion, did very well historically with the merchant class.
Buddha, himself, left his role as prince to find enlightenment and teach others. He never put commercial interests down. Buddha simply warned of excessive attachment. He also advised to refrain from dealing in that which injures life, such as weapons.
Perhaps this is why Buddhism was so successful in imperial China and Japan. The monks and the trades people had an implicit understanding of one another.
The Political and Military Upside
When it comes to political and military operations, using divisiveness and conditioning people to hatred can be a temporary expedient. What will it take to inspire free citizens to voluntarily give up their lives for king and country?
A naked grab for power is not enough. It helps to demonize the people in the target country, as Americans did with the Vietnamese in the late 1960’s. Even better is when you can use God to justify the whole thing.
Fear is a great motivator.
People in power can always jockey their positions to attempt to create a war with another country, which may have been the real basis of the American invasion of Iraq.
All of us are pulled between fear and desire. In many cases, fear wins out. For example, which would concern you most, the possibility of winning the Lottery, or losing all the money you have?
You can attempt to seize power in an electoral process through inspiring fear in the voters. The alien hoards are about to invade our country, and only you have the courage to stop them.
After all, it is a lot easier to destroy than to build, to divide people than to unify them.
In elections, most voters vote AGAINST other candidates, not FOR their candidate. If you have no ethics, this might seem, on the surface, to be an effective policy.
The Political and Military Downside
You can’t motivate people forever on raw hatred. People get stressed and gradually wear out.
They might get numb to the point of no longer caring. Also, as in the case of Donald Trump, your hatred and divisiveness can get out of hand, and you end up alienating your own party and supporters.
Fear and hatred have a way of boomeranging.
It is amusing to consider that Machiavelli, the Italian political philosopher, in The Prince, warned his aristocratic clientele that it is far better to be feared than to be despised.
When you are despised, you are far more likely to be assassinated, as happened to the Italian fascist, Mussolini.
Long-term, fear and hatred have no future. Dictatorships are inherently unstable, as they usually lack a popular base. Even if they start out with that, it can quickly erode.
Why Hatred Is Not Professional, Legal or Even Practical
If you really think about it, hatred undermines professional relationships, and lays you vulnerable to charges of discrimination and harassment. If you direct your hatred toward a competitor, you will often fail to learn enough from them to make your product or service better. Playing with hatred can utterly destroy your career.
Hatred is also increasingly illegal. Public hate speeches are subject to charges of disturbing the peace. Mountains of legislation have been built up over the last generation such that we can no longer safely go back to xenophobia, sexism, racial slurs or religious bigotry.
If a multibillionaire can’t pull it off, what makes you think you possibly can?
Hatred is not practical over the long run. Donald Trump is an object lesson for all of us.
He has put his finger on a number of problems that urgently need addressing: deteriorating relations with a major ally, as in the case with Russia; widespread abuse of immigration laws on the Southern border; rapid escalation of terrorism in American soil; badly conceived and executed trade deals that put America at a disadvantage; exacerbating a $20 trillion federal debt.
Unfortunately, Donald Trump, himself, is not the one to deliver on this, as he can’t control his own emotions.
He would have been far more effective if he had funded someone who can. You don’t become President of the United States without mastering the art of bringing people together.
Overcome Hatred with Love
What is more powerful than fear and hatred? Love.
Divine Love that emerges out of your innermost being; that Love which we call “God” or “Supreme Being.” Conditional love has limited value, as it is simply one end of a continuum with hatred.
Hatred can become love, and love hatred. However, your Ultimate Self IS LOVE. You learn to channel that love, which transcends all boundaries.
Do as Jesus Christ do.
Christ taught us in His Sermon on the Mount to alter our consciousness. “The Kingdom of God” is more a state of being than a specific place. By presensing God, we reflect that divine love to everyone we encounter.
Do as Mahatma Gandhi did.
Gandhiji revealed that he was never for “passive” anything. He stood for active resistance of injustice through nonviolence, or ahimsa. He demonstrated to all how he could love his enemies in the very act of opposing their oppression. In the process, Gandhi not only freed India, he brought down the entire British Empire.
Do as John Lennon did.
Lennon became a spokesperson for the entire planet, right at the time that the space program had reached its apogee and men were walking on the moon. John was one of the world’s first artists to introduce a truly planetary consciousness where there are no frames or boundaries. While Lennon was assassinated, he foresaw that others would join him in his dream.
Why not you and me right about now?
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace…
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Does Hatred Sell? appeared first on http://consciousowl.com.
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