Be driven by Love and Alignment
Outgrow the Hate
I feel like I finally cracked the code on what has been nagging me for last 10 years. This code impacts what I have been trying to do with Radical Metal for some time which is to say, “hey the Right and Left have had good things and bad things, so let’s take the best things and get RADICAL about the MIDDLE.” And I also like to talk about heavy metal music so let’s call the show Radical METAL. :)
I think this has been my way of addressing the great political divide in the country, to try and get people of the Right to acknowledge some good on the Left when it happens, and vice versa. Because right now we needlessly hate each other. So let’s start a new movement where we can meet in the middle and get radical in how we defend it and THAT will be the dominating party, culture, and discourse which will leave little room for radicalization of either side.
I don’t think this was naive, but I think it missed a huge point. Who decides what is good on the Left and what is good on the Right? What makes it good for the Radical Middle? And then I started downloading all these thoughts on LOVE, which is my theme for 2026. No resistance. No more fear, uncertainty and doubt; no “FUD” and more LOVE. My next hat design? Coming soon.
NOW, I think it is less about “good” and “bad” and more about by what those perspectives are drive. Less about opinions and more about what fuels those opinions. What is inspiring the people who are driving these perspectives and is it LOVE or something else?
As of February 2, 2026, this is all I care about. Are you fueled by love or not? Those are the only people I want to platform, listen too, share with, promulgate. The inverse of that are those driven by hate, regardless of whether they have good intentions or not. Examples could be the following:
Left Example: I hate Trump and Right so much! Look what he is doing to these migrant communities through ICE and he’s a pedophile protector or a pedophile himself for Christ’s sake! I hate him so much!
Right Example: I hate Biden and the Left so much, they want to cover up fraud in Minnesota so they can pay migrants to vote. My tax dollars are funding fraud and they won’t even admit it!
Both are claims rooted in solid moral ground, but when they are spewed at the other in hatred, they have lost all power. Moral ground be damned, because we just put the “enemy” on it’s heals and now they want to fight back. Not only have they lost power, they make hate itself the Dominant force.
My big revelation so far in 2026 is that we are creating this ginormous hate monster. We are creating something we don’t have sixth or seventh sense to see. It is fed by what spews out of us when we think of our neighbor on the other side of the political spectrum. It spews out of us when we think about that comment on Facebook. If there is a Devil . . . he is laughing as we make him stronger every day.
So what is the alternative. SHOCKER; love. I can hear my liberal friends now, “OK Jesse, tell me how I am supposed to love Donald Trump. I dare you.” To which I would answer; “maybe you don’t need to love Donald Trump. Maybe to master the art of love for what you have historically seen as so vile, is a bridge too far. Maybe you need (as I do daily) baby steps. Let’s convert the examples above into LOVE.
Left Example: I love our migrant communities. I am floored by their bravery to make things better for their families. I wonder how I can support them in what is probably a very scary time. These victims of pedophilia . . . how can I support them? How can I love them in a way that is meaningful so they don’t feel forgotten or can heal from their trauma?
Right Example: How do I love my community in a way that is meaningful when they have suffered so greatly economically? What is in my power that could be assuring to those who feel insecure about their future and where this country is heading?
At least with the above you cease feeding the Hate Demon. In fact, this is what get’s me energized: starving the Hate Demon by ceasing to feed it while fueling the Love we all are capable of giving. Starving hate while simultaneously overrunning it with the sewn seeds of love and its inevitable fruit! (By the way, I know the below picture is super cheesy, but hopefully it makes the point).
Operating from a foundation of love is what I am calling alignment. You are going to hear that word a lot from me this year. In fact, what I missed with the concept of Radical Middle is not that the Left and Right have good ideas and bad ideas, but rather both Left and Right have people that are either aligned or un-aligned. We are all just living in a swirl of the aligned and un-aligned and the spectrum in between. We are all on the spectrum, as it were; somewhere between the Devil and Shiva. Somewhere between where you are now, reading this with your coffee, and your higher self.
Really strong thought leadership here — this one stuck with me.
One thing I keep circling back to is the idea of opposites. I don’t actually see love and hate as opposites. To me, the real opposite of both is indifference — a complete lack of feeling, concern, or care. What often gets labeled as “hate” feels more like disengagement than active hostility.
That framing makes me wonder whether love is something we can reliably produce on our own. I’m pretty pessimistic about human nature in that regard. Left to ourselves, I think we’re far better at self-interest than self-giving.
Hospitality, though, feels different. It’s within reach. It can be practiced, even manufactured, for the good of others — regardless of how we feel in the moment. It doesn’t deny the reality of evil or pretend alignment fixes everything, but it does resist indifference.
Genuine question / challenge for you: if this post were written through that lens — indifference vs hospitality rather than love vs hate — what would change, if anything?
Well expressed, Jesse. Here's a question: Do you think it's possible to love others if one doesn't love him/herself?