Hatred and Anger

It is sometimes said that hatred is a strong word, and usually when people say this, it is said with a cautionary tone.  Hatred is a strong word, they say, almost as if it is a warning, like the feeling in question should not really be hatred, but some watered down emotion.

I have always regarded hate as an emotion, but technically - according to dictionary.com -  it is an action.  "Extreme dislike."   That is how hate is defined.  Still, I do think that hate is an actual emotion, perhaps because I feel it so intensely.  In the 33 Strategies of War, Robert Greene advises the reader to use hatred and anger essentially as fuel, especially when extra energy is needed to pursue your goal.  As an example of a target of hatred, he mentions concentrating on someone that has fought you unfairly.  To me, this means someone that has intentionally or even unintentionally used more advanced Dirty Warfare strategies. especially in an arena or time of peace.  Hate and anger - for a person, for a group or even for an idea - can fuel you to work through the darkness, both literally (at night) and metaphorically (through bad - or the worst - of times).

Some may call the notion of identifying what you hate as wrong, perhaps even psychotic, but it is really quite wise.  And being perfectly clear about what you hate can also help you clarify what you love.  For instance, I hate powerlessness, and how people have treated me when I did not have power.  As a corollary of this, I hate disrespect, disloyalty and ingratitude, which I firmly believe are side-effects of powerlessness.  No one disrespects a man with power.  Or, perhaps more accurately, the respect you receive from people is generally in line with the level of your power.  I can only imagine that this is why Machiavelli declared that it is better to be feared than loved.  Love is a fickle emotion (as Eminem raps in the video below, it comes and goes with the wind).  In fact, Nietzsche went as far to say that love is as dead as God, in that it does not exist, and the path to enlightenment is to figure out what to do once you accept this as true.