Hatred appears to be driving the presidential election

As we approach the 2024 presidential election, the driving forces behind this contest are unlike any we’ve seen before. It’s no longer a debate of ideas or policy differences in the traditional sense. This election boils down to one stark question: Is hate stronger than love?

Specifically, can the visceral hatred many voters feel for Donald Trump outweigh the profound frustrations and economic suffering millions of Americans are experiencing due to the disastrous policies of Biden and Harris?

Are we voting out of anger and loathing of Donald Trump or because we love our country and want to save it from further damage?

Now, the left would have you believe that the primary motivation for voting in 2024 is because Donald Trump is too dangerous and that he represents everything wrong with America. He’s brash, unapologetic, uncontrollable, and, worst of all to them, he disrupted the precious Washington establishment.

That notwithstanding, look at the headlines — every single day. The drumbeat of anti-Trump rhetoric continues. He’s been accused of every crime under the sun, from Russian collusion to insurrection. They’ve impeached him twice and investigated him for years, and yet, they just can’t seem to take him down. The mere mention of his name sends the mainstream media into a frenzy. This hate and obsession with bringing him down has clouded the judgment of so many, who otherwise might have once been rational voters.

But just you and me are talking here, especially for those voting for four more years of the last four years—you know people are hurting, right? I know you know that.

Prices at the grocery store are through the roof, gas prices are skyrocketing (we’re dependent on foreign oil again), and the average American family can’t afford to make ends meet because inflation is at a 40-year high. Families are forced to make tough decisions at the checkout line, wondering if they can afford to buy enough food for their families, whether they can pay the light bill this month or pay for their prescriptions, whether they can pay the rent or go to the doctor.

Affordable housing for anything but for millions of Americans, as the dream of homeownership is becoming more and more unattainable. With interest rates climbing, homes once within reach are now completely unaffordable. Rent is through the roof, and there’s no end in sight.

Meanwhile, our communities are becoming more dangerous — not just because of the unchecked illegal immigration, but because of the renewed calls to defund the police movement in this country from Kamala Harris. She has multiple times said, “It is outdated and is actually wrong and backward to think that more police officers will create more safety.” But the rising crime rates in cities across the country—murder, theft, carjackings, assaults — are primarily a result of our law enforcement officers being vilified by the left and leaving police departments in droves.

Then there’s the all-out assault on our values and traditions. DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) have infiltrated our schools, workplaces and every corner of public life. Our children are being indoctrinated with these divisive ideologies, teaching them to hate their own country and to see themselves as victims or oppressors based solely on their skin color. This is not the America we know and love — this is the America the left wants to entrench in our everyday lives, one where division and identity politics reign supreme.

And if that wasn’t enough, there’s rising and more pronounced anti-Semitism. Iran is getting closer than ever to obtaining a nuclear weapon — and a nuclear-armed Iran is an existential threat not only to Israel but to the entire world.

Given the facts, regardless of how you feel personally toward either of these candidates, why would you vote for continuing the policies of the last four years for another four years? It seems like you would be voting against your own self-interest, right?

Sigmund Freud, the clinical psychologist, said there are times when people act against their own self-interest, even to the point of self-destruction. In his 1920 work “Beyond the Pleasure Principle,” he described this as our death drive, or Thanatos.

As you may know, Freud initially believed that human behavior was primarily motivated by the pleasure principle, which pushes individuals to seek pleasure and avoid pain. However, he observed behaviors in his research that did not fit this model — repetitive patterns of self-harm, aggression and self-sabotage that seemed contrary to the goal of preserving life and happiness.

This seems counter-intuitive, but Freud explained that there is a fundamental tension between the drive to survive and the drive to self-destruct. Apparently, we all struggle with a deeper, unconscious desire for destruction. While that may not make sense, it does seem to be part of the reason why people remain in harmful relationships, engage in addictive behaviors, or make decisions that sabotage their careers or health.

So, in November, the question for each one of us is this: Which is stronger within you—the drive to survive or to self-destruct? The answer will decide, in the words of Ronald Reagan, whether we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

Louis R. Avallone is a Shreveport businessman, attorney and author of “Bright Spots, Big Country, What Makes America Great.” He is also a former aide to U.S. Representative Jim McCrery and editor of The Caddo Republican. His columns have appeared regularly in 318 Forum since 2007. Follow him on Facebook, on Twitter @louisravallone or by e-mail at louisavallone@mac.com, and on American Ground Radio at 101.7FM and 710 AM, weeknights from 6 - 7 p.m., and streaming live on keelnews.com.