Hate is one of the oldest emotions known to humanity. It knows no boundaries. It is a chronic battle - a plague which we must constantly battle.

Most of us are well aware of the recent upswing in homophobic violence in New South Wales. Though we may see it as appalling, we also see it as inevitable. Unfortunately, the news stories have only fueled more hatred toward indigenous peoples and local law enforcement.

Hate spawns more hate. Homophobic slurs and violence leads to increased hatred of straight individuals. Police inaction leads to hate toward officers. Hate-filled words and violence toward the law returns the feelings of ill will toward the GLBT community and perpetuates negative stereotypes. The cycle completes itself and continues indefinitely.

We become the byproduct of our training: hateful creatures.

Though we try to deny our negative attributes, hatred runs in our blood. Every society feels the need and drive to possess an underdog: a clutch of people to downgrade in order to feel superior and/or to divert attention from their own inferiorities. Someone to blame for the status quo or the problems within our culture. Often, that means choosing the smallest, weakest, or most recognizably different individuals and focusing our fear, anger, or self-loathing upon them.

Often, hatred can be blamed on upbringing and the cultural influences surrounding us from birth. My sister once called it “the sand box theory”: when we are innocent children, we play with anyone who cares to play with us, regardless of their appearance or identity. As we age, our parents impose their moral judgments subtly (and occasionally forcefully) on us. Our localized society deems what we view as good and bad. Our friendships govern our views as we give in to what is accepted among our peers.

Psychologist Gordon Allport tackled these issues in his 1954 book, “The Nature of Prejudice”. He devised a five-step scale to register the amount of intolerance within a given society, ranging from hate speech to total extermination. We have witnessed the entire range throughout time. Immigration reform. Nazi concentration camps. Car bombings in Northern Ireland. Matthew Shepard’s murder.

So many people have suffered from humanity’s wraith. And it hasn’t ended.

But can we stop the violence? The grief? The pain?

The truth is that discrimination and prejudice have and probably will never be erased from the human race. Some form is always lurking in the shadows. And those prejudices lead to more in a never-ending spiral. Some toxins can’t be taken back or washed away. But we can move forward and change for the better.

Two major things must happen for social attitudes of discrimination to change: 1) we must start viewing people less fortunate as not being partially to blame for their lives, and 2) we must stop focusing on the differences among our many subcultures.

Change is not an overnight process. Discrimination and prejudice won’t simply go away if we wish for it enough. It will be a long conflict, but everything worthwhile has its price.

We all need to be more mindful of how we throw around our hate. If we keep the cycle of hateful words and actions spinning forward, we’re no better than the people who’ve harmed us in our own pasts.