Why Haters Hate

‘The tallest poppy gets cut first’

‘The nail that sticks out gets hammered down’

These sayings describe how groups enforce conformity. Those who distinguish themselves and excel are brought back ‘down to earth’. This is especially true in certain communities. Chris Williamson, for instance, in his interview with Joe Rogan, says that the UK is particularly prone to this sort of social pressure:

What Williamson is describing may apply to the UK and the US, but it might be more accurate to say that smaller communities are more prone to TPS than larger ones. This is often attributed to jealousy and resentment, (the JRE conversation began by discussing this) but there are other reasons why those around us would want to hold us back. In Totem and Taboo, Freud discusses the feelings of ambivalence created by certain forms of social prestige. In an extreme example, a King, by their distinction, cannot come in contact with an ordinary person without repercussions. For this reason, Kings must be guarded against:

Why one must guard against rulers is already known to us; because they are…