Why do people hate people?

It's a question that probably doesn't rest on our minds enough. And I know that me placing it on my blog won't change that for the majority of the world, but I ask it anyway.

Why do people hate people? 

My initial response is that people hate other people either because something has happened to cause that hatred, or you simply don't mix with those people. But either of these can surely be rectified.

Something happened

I think here of people recovering from war. It is understandable that the people of one nation can come to hate the people of another nation. In Australia, there were many people who hated Japanese people because of what happened during the war. I get that. But consider how flawed it can be.
The thought process might go like this:

• That person hurt me
• that person belongs to that group
• therefore, everyone who belongs to that group must be like that person
• so I hate everyone who belongs to that group.

But this process makes some wild assumptions. Firstly, it assumes that the person has chosen to hurt you personally when it may be that he/she is hurting you because of the group you belong to. Second, it assumes that this person has rightly expressed the values of the group he belongs to. Thirdly, it assumes that everyone in the group feels the same.

My own life tells me that such assumptions are false and dangerous.

So I move to my next thought.

I don't mix with those people

This connects to the first point. And the thought process works something like this 

• That person scares me
• that person belongs to that group
• therefore, everyone who belongs to that group must be like that person
• so I hate everyone who belongs to that group.

In our country at the moment, there is a debate on how to deal with asylum seekers. The people who speak loudest and with the greatest hatred (I use the term rightly, I think) are those who are utterly untouched by these people. But when I hear from those of my friends who are meeting with the asylum seekers, there is no hint of hatred towards them.

I know I haven't answered the question, and I don't think I can. But I can answer it for myself. And I have no right to hate anyone. For sure, there are people I disagree with, and some of them I would disagree completely on some issues. But this does not mean I hate them.

Something to "sit and wonder" about.