Root cause on anti- -isms

[futureperfect5]

The true motivations of negativity which manifests in symptoms such as :scared: racism, prejudice, even violence are three-fold:

Low self-esteem
Need to establish reason for being (raison d'etre)
Scarcity paradigmIf I am only me, then I am weaker than if I have group validation. -- Control / Inferiority Complex
Why am I here; what is my purpose or significance? -- Control / Relevance
There is only so much and I want to acquire whatever there is for myself and my group. -- Control / Sustenance

This is not about reality ... it is perception.

So, what to do? :stunned:

[Lights]

If history is any example, then much of racism and prejudice is residual of people dehumanizing others so that they could exploit their land or labor for resources. An example would be colonialists dehumanizing Native Americans as "savages" so they could justify taking their land and dehumanizing Africans as "primitive" so they could enslave them and make them work on the land they took from the Native Americans. Now that the institution of slavery is gone, the old attitudes about the "inferior people" are kept to justify why the people who are in power are in power. The only addition is that prejudiced groups now justify all the problems of society on the other groups, because clearly the "superior group" could not be responsible.

[Homini Lupus]

You need an anti-identity to create your own group identity; at least it's the easyest way. If i know what I am I know what I'm not. Remember, there's people sabbing knives in each others just for the sake of a football team.

Another reason is the lack of information.
I mean that we need to process a lot of information each moment so we have to take shortcuts: many of those from Z are thieves, you come from Z, I have not time/resources to get info about you so you are a thief.
Sad thing is that this last is often the most cost-effective strategy.

[futureperfect5]

IThe only addition is that prejudiced groups now justify all the problems of society on the other groups, because clearly the "superior group" could not be responsible.
I agree with you -- it is terrible.





futureperfect5 added to this post, 1 minutes and 34 seconds later...

Sad thing is that this last is often the most cost-effective strategy.

Yes, cost-effective ... monetarily :undecided:... there are intrinsic values to consider.

[DeadSpace]

There is a fourth or fifth depending how many you're up to
Difference, human, but a different looking one or different acting one. Fear of the stranger in their midst. Primitive response...that unknown could compete for food, territory, mates, etc. Typical human response to the unknown, strange, or unusual is to fear it...closely followed by trying to kill it, or drive it away.

[Homini Lupus]

I've also read in a "science for dummies" magazine that humans tend to see faces with foreign facial features as more hostile. That wouldn't explain everything but could be seen as a part of the whole.