I was taking an online survey the other day, and one of the questions stopped me cold. It asked, "If you could remove one thing from the world to make it a better place, what would it be?" I sat there for a minute thinking about all the usual answers people give - war, poverty, disease - but honestly, the one thing I'd remove is hate. More specifically, I hate haters. Yeah, I get the irony. People who hate other people for the dumbest reasons. Whether it's money, politics, or religion, it all boils down to the same thing: insecurity disguised as moral superiority.

When I look around at the world, I see endless potential for cooperation. We have enough food, technology, and resources for everyone to live a good life. Yet, we keep finding excuses to divide ourselves into tribes. I see it every day in online arguments where people treat strangers like enemies over differences that shouldn't matter.

It reminds me of a student once who hated Access because he said it wasn't as powerful as SQL Server. (1) He had never even tried it. Kind of like hating broccoli when you've never actually taken a bite. I finally got him to build a simple customer database, and he realized it wasn't Access he hated - it was his idea of what he thought Access represented (a child's toy). That's how hate often works. It's ignorance wearing a costume of confidence. Once he saw how easy it was to design and build a few forms - and attach them to SQL Server - he completely changed his views.

In business, I've seen the same pattern. Some managers hate their competitors more than they love improving their own products. They spend more energy tearing others down than building themselves up. That kind of mindset never leads to growth. The best businesses - and people - learn to collaborate and share knowledge. I love collaborating with other Access MVPs. I don't see any of them as competition, but as colleagues.

Politics is where hate seems to thrive best. People no longer debate ideas - they just pick teams and shout insults. I'm critical of both extremes, but especially the Religious Right. When politics becomes a vehicle for enforcing religious dogma, it stops being democracy and starts being theocracy. If your political platform depends on forcing your god's rules onto others, maybe it's time to question both your politics and your faith. You can believe what you want, but don't demand the rest of us live by it.

Even in fitness and health, I see a parallel. Some people hate others for being overweight, or for following the "wrong" plan. Paleo vs Keto, seed oils vs olive oil, cardio vs lifting - it never ends. Everyone swears their way is the only way, and anyone who disagrees must be ignorant or lazy. Hate becomes a way to feel superior instead of supportive. I've learned that most people are just trying to do what works for them, and that's fine. If it helps you feel better and live longer, who cares if it doesn't fit someone else's rulebook?

Star Trek tackled the issue of hate a lot. One of the best examples was in the Original Series episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield." Two aliens wiped out their entire civilization because each hated the other for being white on the wrong side. Spock called it illogical, and he was right. Hate never makes sense, but it always does damage. So stupid... annihilating each other over the color of one's skin.

Neil Peart captured this perfectly in the Rush song "Territories":

They shoot without shame
In the name of a piece of dirt
For a change of accent
Or the color of your shirt
Better the pride that resides
In a citizen of the world
Than the pride that divides
When a colorful rag is unfurled

If there's a thread connecting all this, it's that hate usually comes from fear - fear of being wrong, fear of losing status, fear of change. The only cure for that is curiosity. Instead of hating, try understanding. It's harder, but it actually solves things. So if I could remove one thing from the world, it wouldn't be poverty or disease - those are symptoms. I'd remove hate itself, because without hate, the rest gets a lot easier to fix.

What about you? What would you remove from the world to make it a better place, and why?

LLAP
RR

(1) putting aside the fact that it's like comparing apples to oranges, and they work great together. Like that commercial where the guy complained that you got peanut butter on his chocolate.