Why 'they' still don't hate 'us'

Mark LeVine discusses the myopic nature of the 'us' versus 'them' worldview.

By Mark LeVine

Al-Jazeera

".....The one generality that increasingly unites people across the globe, however, is the clear lack of solidarity between the wealthiest members of all societies and their poorer compatriots. Whether it's the richest 1.5 per cent in the United States, 5 per cent in Pakistan or 10 per cent in Egypt or Morocco, contemporary neoliberal, globalised capitalism is uniting the interests of elites against the rest of their societies - and as a result, the interests of the rest of us together in opposition, like never before. This was clear to anyone lucky enough to be in Tunis or Cairo during their initial uprisings, or Milwaukee, Lower Manhattan and Madrid not longer thereafter.

When you look at the incredible damage being wrought by energy, mining, agribusiness, food processing, weapons, and so many other industries on the planet, from global warming to rain forest destruction to the poisoning of large swaths of the land and sea, it's hard not to believe that they - the political and economic elites who manage the world today and control most of its resources and wealth - really do hate the rest of us. Or at the very least, they couldn't care less......"