To the hated

I've had a few discourses on the topic of haters and negative behaviour in the past but until reading this recent guest post on BoingBoing I'd never considered that by labelling someone else a hater I'm effectively labelling myself "the hated". I found that a little jarring (which I don't think was the author's intent) because it's such a negative and (to me) submissive word.
What I liked about the post is that he was giving people who might feel alone and victimised a lifeline. You're not alone. You're not at fault. You're not powerless. Here are some ways to deal with haters. It inspired me to do the following video:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uO0EP41_TE]
When I've dealt with the topic I've always tried to do it as a show of support for other people who find themselves on the receiving end of abuse. Attacking haters can be fun but it's ultimately pointless. This is simply because there is not point to hater behaviour no matter how much they talk themselves up. They are weak, pathetic people with nothing of value to offer so they seek to tear others down.
A friend of mine once described the situation as the world being made up of two types of people: mountain climbers and ditch diggers. When mountain climbers see someone above them thy start climbing in order to reach the same heights. When ditch diggers see someone above them they start digging a hole with the hope that the other person will fall into it.
So my philosophy is: don't let haters get to you. Their attacks on you are nothing more than their admission you are better than them. You're better and they have no hope of ever equalling you so they want to drag you down. Ignore them and they'll fester away in the dark hole they've created for themselves.
And just to round off, here's a link to Ricky Gervais' blog:
http://www.rickygervais.com/thissideofthetruth.php