All about Love: Love Song to the Nation Book 1

hooks explains her idea of living by a love ethic. In the beginning of the chapter, she states that awakening to love can only happen when “we let go of our obsession with power and domination” (87). She believes it is imperative that all aspects of American life, such as politics, religion, and the workplace, “should […] have as their foundation a love ethic” (87). By hooks’s definition, a love ethic “presupposes that everyone has the right to be free, to live fully and well” (87). For society to embrace living by a love ethic, major cultural changes—namely in the way people think about and treat themselves and others—would need to take place.

Examples of adhering to a love ethic include living with one’s aging parents to care for them, or moving to a smaller town or city where one’s loved ones are, even if other cities are more “culturally desirable.” Another, more political example of the love ethic emerges when white people speak out against racism, writes hooks. The love ethic also requires action. For example, it is easy for a man to publicly disavow domestic violence against women, but it is much harder for that man to do the work of dismantling the patriarchy—a necessary step toward ending domestic violence. hooks also argues political conservatism is at odds with the love ethic, writing, “An overall cultural embrace of a love ethic would mean that we would all oppose much of the public policy conservatives condone and support” (91).

Embracing a love ethic “transforms our lives by offering us a different set of values to live by” (88). Living by a love ethic enables individuals to value emotional connectedness over material gain. Advocating for its transformative impact, hooks claims that she has never known anyone who has embraced a love ethic “whose life has not become joyous and more fulfilling” (88). Living ethically enables spiritual growth.

A lot of contemporary writing supports hooks’s belief that a love ethic positively impacts all who choose to embrace it. Living by a love ethic means utilizing all aspects of love—“care, commitment, trust, responsibility, respect, and knowledge”—in daily life (94). hooks believes it is the responsibility of those who choose to live by a love ethic to reform a culture that would seemingly rather suffer the pain of lovelessness than perform love’s necessary work. Changing the culture involves addressing mass media’s often misguided presentations of love, which are often rooted in patriarchal thinking. For example, movies usually depict lovers as “fall[ing] into bed without ever discussing their bodies, their needs, their likes and dislikes” (95). This, hooks argues, is not a realistic depiction of love. All people, regardless of gender, are negatively impacted by patriarchal institutions. A love ethic cannot thrive under patriarchy.

All significant social movements focused on achieving freedom and justice have been shaped by a love ethic. To collectively live in accordance with a love ethic is not easy, but it is possible; it takes courage, patience, and commitment, like all other aspects of love. By embracing a love ethic, an individual invites everyone to love, to be loved, and to thrive.

hooks examines the impact of greed on loving practice. She begins the chapter by explaining that many people in her society live their lives feeling isolated and alone, and that “isolation and loneliness are central causes of depression and despair” (105). Materialism is directly tied to this issue, especially given that the prevailing culture places great value on “acquisition and consumption” (105). In a culture of greed and narcissism, love cannot flourish.

hooks traces this cultural greed to a loss of America’s collective vision for its future. Prior to the Vietnam War, she writes, Americans embraced an optimistic vision of love and justice, embodied by the civil rights movement, feminism, and other liberation movements. However, many of these projects stalled, while at the same time America lost its moral high ground and commitment to democracy through its participation in wars abroad. Many sought solace in the domestic sphere only to be faced with rising divorce rates and greater awareness of domestic violence and child abuse. The last refuge for many Americans, hooks writes, was materialism. This materialism even infected organized religion, under the guise of concepts like the “Protestant work ethic.” Finally, materialism manifested among the underclass through the growth in the street drug industry, which hooks calls “one of the rare locations where capitalism worked well for a few individuals” (109). This led to widespread addiction, which “makes love impossible” (111).

When “greedy consumption is the order of the day, dehumanization becomes acceptable” (115). People who are motivated by greed are not capable of practicing love. In this regard, the mass media is particularly unhelpful, given that it is the “primary vehicle for the promotion and affirmation of greed” (116). Because it is rooted in concern only for the self, “greed violates the spirit of connectedness and community that is natural to human survival” and imperative to the practice of love (117). This self-serving dynamic is then mirrored in people’s romantic relationships, as they are “encouraged to treat partners as though they were objects we can pick up, use, and then discard and dispose of at will, with the one criteria being whether or not individualistic desires are satisfied” (115).

In the contemporary world, it is difficult to resist the temptations of greed. To resist the pull of capitalism and materialism, hooks advocates for living simply. Living simply and letting go of greedy instincts empowers individuals to connect with one another; through connection, they can express care, respect, and love. In short, “living simply makes loving simple” (125). Just as importantly, however, individuals must also work to elect honest, progressive leaders who will enact more compassionate public policy, like the expansion of welfare programs.