-Caveat Lector- The Guardian [U.K.] Love your enemy - he may be your best friend Hate figures who do us the power of good Anthony Browne Sunday September 10, 2000 Worried that you have too many enemies? Well, stop fretting, get out the voodoo dolls and stick a few more needles in them. You may hate others, and they may hate you, but it can be good for you - if only in the short term. If you haven't got enemies your life may not be complete. According to a new book by the celebrated psychologist Dorothy Rowe, we don't just need friends, we also need enemies. She counted 24 different benefits brought by having enemies, including making you feel more important, making you feel more virtuous, and simply making life more exciting. 'Having an enemy could be an advantage,' she concluded after research for Friends and Enemies which took her to Bosnia, Northern Ireland, South Africa and Lebanon. It's only in the long term that the drawbacks become clear. The national hysteria over Big Brother's Nasty Nick shows not just how much we all love to have a hate-figure, but how effective it can be in bringing a country closer together. 'If a group has an enemy, that enemy brings the group together - we saw that in this country in World War II' said Rowe. 'You see it in business organisations - if the boss is seen as an enemy, the workers get very close.' 'First, get a common enemy' could be the opening of any leader's rulebook. 'Rulers have always invented an enemy to keep people together. Rulers who want to stay in power always have a war,' said Rowe (think of General Galtieri's decision to invade the Falklands) and it even applies to democracies (think of Thatcher's electoral triumph after defending the Falklands). It even explains much of geo-politics. 'The US is a very diverse group of people, and the way the government held the country together was by having an enemy. But when the Berlin wall came down, the US no longer had an enemy,' explained Rowe. 'So President Bush immediately announced a war on drugs.' The Colombian drug barons, such as Pablo Escobar, have done their bit to keep the US united. Hatred towards Islamic fundamentalists - and public enemy number one Osama Bin Laden - also keeps Americans appreciative of their president. Having enemies can also help combat boredom. Rowe was puzzled by one family where all the members were constantly at war with each other until she realised they actually enjoyed it. 'It made their otherwise dull lives more exciting,' she said. Enemies also have the advantage of being more exciting than friends. 'The enemy is always doing something, or you can always imagine them doing something.' Enemies can also make people feel that they matter. Rowe worked in a psychiatric hospital, where old people knew no one was thinking of them, and found that frightening. They would get enemies, so at least they knew someone was thinking of them. 'Imagine being so insignificant that no one could be bothered to hate you.' Having a hate-figure can also make us feel better about ourselves. People give their enemies all the characteristics that they have trouble with themselves - whether it's being sadistic, aggressive or manipulative. For example, if you're feeling guilty about having some malicious thoughts, it's comforting to believe Saddam Hussein is the embodiment of pure evil and that we are less cunning than Peter Mandelson. A good enemy can also help people cope with their failings in life, by simply taking the blame for everything. At work, people often blame the boss. 'You don't have to take responsibility, and it means you can avoid the really complex questions.' This can also dominate a political culture, such as Hitler blaming the Jews for much of Weimar Germany's problems, or unemployed people blaming immigrants. But Rowe thinks that some of the hatred that many people feel for migrants may be even more primitive. 'When our species first appeared on the planet, there were very few of us and we lived in little bands, and the concept of stranger was the same as the concept of enemy,' she said 'Echoes of that are still with us.' Ultimately, like almost everything in psychology, it seems, it all goes back to childhood. 'The need for enemies is very directly linked to the amount of punishment you had as a child. Most chil dren are hit, or they're made to stay in their room, or spoken to in horrible ways. You need enemies to put your hatred onto,' said Rowe. Enemies allow adults to simply act out the frustrations of childhood. 'If, as a child, we had a bad relationship with our father, you project your idea of father onto any authority figures, and behave towards them as you would have towards your father, but wouldn't dare.' But before we all rush out to get an enemy, or upset a few people to acquire a few more, Rowe warns that all the advantages are simply short term. 'If you devote a lot of your energy to hating some one, you don't have the energy to enlarge your life.' When you scapegoat and blame others, you fail to get to grips with the real causes of your problems. Rowe now sees getting rid of the need for enemies as essential for the future of humanity: 'Having enemies is now a luxury our species can no longer afford. It's led to the degradation of the planet, with industries competing to death. We need to learn to live without enemies to ensure the survival of the planet.' Friends and Enemies is published tomorrow by HarperCollins, price £19.99 [EMAIL PROTECTED] <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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