Radical Self Love and the Politics of Hate

Alarmingly, in the U.S., many eligible voters tend to give little to no attention to foreign policy, while the few who do pay attention to foreign policy confuse imperialistic, militaristic, interventionist, hawkish and violent behavior and language and mask such as a more muscular and tougher approach to foreign policy.

When I think about politics and elections, one of the things I care the most about is foreign policy. Why? For starters U.S. imperialistic policies are behind the current political instability, exacerbated levels of violence, and poverty throughout the world.

What does this have to do with an undocumented transgender Latina living in the U.S. like myself? These terrible, violent, and parasitic approaches to foreign policy are behind the cultural genocide and deaths of millions of people from state sponsored violence, which, in turn, are some of the push factors for migration and global inequality.

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For the aforementioned reasons, we must be cautious about politicians that circumvent diplomacy and employ violent and aggressive language and actions when referring or working with other nations and states.

These kinds of politicians are the ones who favor war, chaos, ethnic and cultural cleansing. These are the ones who will not hesitate to punish people for disagreeing with U.S. definitions of democracy, progress, and voracious capitalism. These are the same politicians that use foreign policy and human rights as a distraction and deflection from the disturbing problems people face in the U.S. while catering to the for-profit business that benefit from war and military occupation from the sale of weapons and guns.

It is easier to condone, vilify and demonize occurrences abroad while ignoring the inhabitable and inhumane conditions that people face domestically. The hypocrisy behind statements from U.S. politicians when speaking about child poverty, women’s rights, LGBTQ liberation, racism abroad, while there are places in the U.S. that have devastating reports of human rights violations for one or, in some cases, all of the aforementioned social groups, further heightens tensions among world actors.

One thing is clear; many people in the U.S. are bloodthirsty. What leads me to that conclusion? Well, for starters, every politician that has anti-war stances is perceived as weak. The more a politician whether conservative or liberal supports a hawkish, militaristic, imperialistic, interventionist neoconservative ideology, the more popular support they receive. Have people forgotten the consequences of war? The outcomes of the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, are way too contemporary and disastrous to forget and repeat.

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Without a doubt, The U.S. has a lot of positive things, but to create arbitrary comparisons with other nations and states comes from a place of excessive arrogance. Of course, we must celebrate our victories, but with the current 2016 presidential election phrases like: “We are the greatest and most giving nation on earth,” “God has blessed the U.S. so we can lead the world,” “America is the indispensable nation” are indicators of poor foreign policy stances and dangerous ultranationalist beliefs.

In essence, when we hear politicians’ stances on foreign policy, we should pay close attention to their language and past actions because it will reveal more about who they are as people, their world agenda, and their core values. What we cannot do is conflate American exceptionalism with positive attributes.

Apathy towards foreign policy or the support of an imperialistic, militaristic, hawkish, and interventionist foreign policy agenda makes one complicit to politics of hate, the invisibilizing and killing of people outside U.S. shores. And if you are part of the progressive movement or fighting for justice, not having a solid foreign policy agenda is proof of limited self serving liberation that excludes over 199 other countries and nations beyond U.S. borders.

Do you feel like you are surrounded by the politics of hate?  Is it difficult to practice self-love while being isolated in a militaristic and hawkish society?  Check out our webinar 10 Tools for Radical Self Love.