One of the effects of living in times when political correctness is over-emphasized is that hate is driven underground. Another way of saying this is that being PC doesn't eliminate hate; it only drives hate into finding new and more sophisticated avenues of expression.

Hate needs somewhere to go. A new kind of socially accepted hate has emerged, now that is has become utterly unacceptable to utter anything that even remotely resembles hatred toward ethnic-cultural groups, races, religions, genders, various ages and those with various impairments.

That hate is political hatred. The voices of bigotry toward socialists and capitalists, toward environmentalists and expansionists, toward conservatives and liberals, toward globalists and nationalists, has reached a venomous fervor the likes of which has not been seen since the 1950s.

Those members of the media whose talk shows thrive on fueling this kind of political bigotry are providing one of the last bastions of socially accepted hatred that remains untouched in our culture. (The other is fanaticism but I have already written extensively about Fanaticism Disorder in my Declaration of Global Responsibility document so I will not address that dimension in this post.)

It is those ideologically addicted columnists and talk show and "news" show pundits, on the political right and the political left, and their equally venomous adherents, who share The New IQ IntegrityWatch Blog's Integrity Disgrace Award for today, May 1, 2008.

Hatred is a kind of holier-than-thou arrogance. If someone told you that the drug they are trying to sell you is the cure-all of everyone and everything would you believe them? I sure hope not.

Hatred stifles dialogue. Hatred sabotages the kind of collaborative, synergistic decision-making we so desperately need today in our communities, in our governments and in the world community. AND hatred seductively draws a lot of attention on television, radio, print and the internet.

There are two particularly hard-to-face truths that must be faced regarding political hatred.  The first is that the core perspectives that each of these groups hold provides a PIECE of the larger picture. No amount of name-calling, bad-mouthing or spin doctoring can change that fact. The second is that the COMPLETE picture we need to co-create in order to generate truly durable, responsive, root-cause solutions can only be discovered when we combine the wisdom of conservativism and the wisdom of liberalism, the wisdom of expansionism with the wisdom of environmentalism, the wisdom of nationalism with the wisdom of globalism, and the wisdom of capitalism with the wisdom of socialism.

We need to collaborate now more than ever. Political hatred directly interferes with our ability to do this. The arrogance that says one political party or one set of economic guidelines can solve all problems is a form of propaganda that far too many of us swallow. Environmental extremists are just as dangeous as expansionist extremists who want to pretend that humans can do whatever they please because are incapable of damaging our planet. At the same time, the saner expansionists hold deeply important PIECES of the larger picture just as similarly sane environmentalists do.

If you're looking for a simplified picture in which solutions can be found by embracing only one ideological perspective, you might want to find another planet to live on because this attitude simply does not and will not work here. It's time that people who understand this, which is actually the majority of us, start sanding up and saying this out loud.

Want to see an end to the insanity, destruction and solution-interference that political bigotry creates? Then stop feeding it by accepting it, tuning in to it and remaining silent about it! Stop buying the one-size-fits-all delusion. There is a right place for environmental concern and an equally right place for the expansion of human interests. Free market principles have huge strengths, yet the weaknesses of capitalism (yes there are a few!) are the strengths of socialism -- and vice versa.

Countries that are not ideologically arrogant, such as Canada, England, Sweden are demonstrating every day that the strengths of both capitalism and socialism can be wedded in ways that serve the highest good of individuals, businesses and society. But how often do Americans here about these successes? Not very often, because the public knowing about this doesn't help the cause of ideological zealots and fanatics on EITHER side in a politically and ideologically polarized society.

It is time for us to embrace what we already know: that political and ideological polarization is a form of hatred. It is a form of bigotry. It is a form of unbridled arrogance. It creates a kind of gridlock that guarantees truly effective solutions will never be found. It is thus a form of insanity.

So, start calling political hatred what it is: bigotry that is no more acceptable than -- and just as destructive as -- any other kind of hatred.

Here's a simple exercise you can do to heighten your awareness of this. Next time you listen to, watch or read something where across-the-board venom is being spewed on a political perspective, think about what your reaction would be if they were saying this same thing about everyone in the ethnic group with which you identify yourself. I think you wouldn't like that at all nor do I think you would believe the stereotypes these hate mongers would be saying about your group. For instance, if some pundit claims that all liberals or all conservative are "stupid, incompetent idiots who are destroying our society," substitute "liberals" or "conservatives" with the ethnic group with which you identify yourself and see how you feel then.

Start speaking out AGAINST political bigotry whenever you hear it, just as you hopefully would do if you heard hatred being voiced about a particular ethnic or cultural group, race, religion, gender, age or impairment. Start speaking out FOR the necessity of seeking out and embraceing the heart of each seemingly opposing perspective, because it contains a PIECE of the larger picture that we so desperately need in order to co-create the solutions we need today. Start spreading the wisdom that says no single group can accurately see the whole picture by themselves but that this bigger picture can and will emerge if we join together as though creating a jigsaw puzzle. Each group has important puzzle pieces that the other groups don't have. Only by combining our respective pieces can we co-create the larger picture we need in order to truly solve our problems.

Political hatred is no more justifiable -- or helpful -- than any other form of hatred. May we start treating it that way -- and soon! The jigsaw puzzle image is our road map for helping this happen. It is the antidote to the destructive polarization that has us in its jaws and is slowly biting down on us to kill the life out of democracy. I'll say that again, the way that I just had it said to me: political hatred, bigotry and polarization is THE most problematic and dangerous threat to democracy itself. Enough is enough. It's time for all of us to stop tolerating this insanity.