Edward Glaeser, a famous Harvard economist wrote the following scholarly paper called "The Political Economy of Hatred", several years ago to explain why politicians and political activists hate and/or promote hatred against people of other religions, cultures and races:
http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/glaeser/files/Hatred.pdf It is a highly technical piece involving differential equations. However, the text itself might be useful to some to understand political and religious hatred and ways to counter it in a public forum. Here are excerpts from the abstract and conclusion: QUOTE This paper develops a model of the interaction between the supply of hate-creating stories from politicians and the willingness of voters to listen to hatred. Hatred is fostered with stories of an out-group's crimes, but the impact of these stories comes from repetition not truth. Hate-creating stories are supplied by politicians when such actions help to discredit opponents whose policies benefit an out-group. Egalitarians foment hatred against rich minorities; opponents of redistribution build hatred against poor minorities. Hatred relies on people accepting, rather than investigating, hate-creating stories. Hatred declines when there is private incentive to learn the truth. Increased economic interactions with a minority group may provide that incentive. UNQUOTE QUOTE The history of hatred suggests that when people are willing to listen, political entrepreneurs can create hatred. By telling tales of past and future crimes, people can be convinced that some out-group is dangerous. This paper identifies conditions under which we should expect to see the congruence of a supply of hatred and a willingness to listen to hatred (the demand). The supply of hatred is created by political competition. When policy alternatives would have disparate impact on the minority group, then the politicians supporting the anti-minority policy will tend to use hatred. As a result, leftwing politicians will build hatred against rich minorities and right-wing politicians will build hatred against poor minorities. Other policies, like excluding immigrants or segregate minorities, can also complement hatred. When minorities are more different from the majority along a policy-relevant dimension, then minorities are more tempting targets for hatred. Citizens’ willingness to accept false hate-creating stories is determined by the costs and returns to acquiring information. People who interact frequently with minorities in peaceful setting will be less likely to accept false stories. Hatred is particularly likely when out- groups are politically relevant, but socially segregated. UNQUOTE The reasons why self-righteous crackpots hate and promote hatred, and fabricate phony stories, are entirely different. I will try to provide reading material on these reasons, as well. But they are essentially a combination of extreme ignorance and various psychological deficiencies. Cheers, Santosh
