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When you look around in today’s society it seems as though hate is glorified and encouraged. Different from love, hate is a learned trait. One could argue that it is derived from the dysfunction where children may be raised, as they are exposed to a higher rate of hateful and violent images from an early age; it becomes a natural extension of the child. Focusing on children, whom are the adults of the future, a three-year National Television Study reported by the AAP, found that children’s shows had the most violence of all television programming. Statistics read that some cartoons average twenty acts of violence in one hour, and that by the age of 18 children will have seen 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence on television (Adams, 2017). The perceived rewards and social acceptance along with the desensitization of people as a whole, shown through influential media outlets such as the television and social media seem immediate. Many millions of people witness unfortunate actions of violence and disrespect preformed through these outlets, granting a sort of acceptance of this kind of behavior. Monkey see, monkey do. So the negativity and hate continues to spread through the veins of many as if it was blood that we need to survive. Exposed blood will eventually clot over time.
Love, on the other hand takes effort and time. Although a study of the effects of images and acts of compassion and love was not as easily found, this writer does personally know that a concerted amount of effort is required to not only give, but receive love as well. Patience is similarly required through this process of the transaction of love, although often times no reward is yielded. Indeed, love must “come from the heart,” as many say, with no expectation of a reciprocation of that same love. The sort of love in which I speak, is not a love of material things, which cannot love a human in return. This class of adoration is a love many of us search for every year, not knowing that a lot of us may never feel or find that authentic love because of our ways in which we choose to live. Through poor learning rituals and habits that we create for ourselves, love is many times masked and confused with something else such as money, material possessions, lust or infatuation, for example. We must be aware to recognize that love stands alone in the forest and is as easy to recognize as it is to confuse. For instance, one may think they are in love, but when that love is put to the test, they fail. Love requires a firm stance in the face of any and all adversary situations. A real love is as rare as a fine wine that grows richer with taste through the time spent on earth; bottled up and released at the right time to be shared between the right people. Many individuals though, cannot, or absolutely will not do this as a result of many of us being molded to believe that an instant gratification is the proper way. It very well may not be. In fact, I believe it is not.
Hate is easier to express and yields a feeling of instant gratification, which is subconsciously reinforced as a result. In the end it means nothing to, or for the receiver. A behavior that is reinforced is likely to reoccur. A more complex emotion such as love, which I believe is not as frequently reinforced, is more difficult to express and spiritually takes a lot out of an individual. They say love is the answer. Many say Love is the way. Many people say the idea of God itself, is love. In the end, I seem to always find myself asking the same question that the pop group known as The Black Eye Peas asked the world in 2003. Where is the love?
Adams, N. (2017, June 13). How Watching Violence on TV Affects Children. Retrieved 1 2, 2018, from Livestrong: https://www.livestrong.com/article/221006-how-tv-violence-affects-kids/