On the scarcity of empathy…
Empathy 1. The psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another. (dictionary.com)
4: 2 Empathy is in short supply. I do not believe this is dependent on any cultural trend or time in history.
4: 3 I dare say MOST have not developed, nor have any interest in developing, the skill of empathy. 4: 4 After all, if you are only concerned about yourself, you have no use for an insight into the feelings of others. 4: 5 Allowing, or better forcing, oneself to feel the circumstances of others could produce guilt, sorrow, anger, or any number of uncomfortable emotions. 4: 6 And in a world filled with narcissists, this would be too much of a burden for them to bear.
4: 7 For example, the obtuseness of the suburban white male who argues against the existence of systematic racism; not only is this a monumental lack of empathy but also laughably ignorant. 4: 8 He is incapable of understanding that just because he has no direct personal experience with racism does not make it less real for others. 4: 9 Empathy would allow an honest look into the different ways populations are treated by society.
4: 10 The same can be said for the heterosexual homophobe, who insists desiring the same sex is a choice. 4: 11 Blaming it on personal choice makes it easier to justify hate, “they did it to themselves.” There is no attempt to, nor any interest in, understanding the difference in orientation. 4: 12 It will never occur to them that the intensity of feeling they have for the opposite sex, others may have for the same sex or both sexes. 4: 13 Instead, it is easier to believe that God says it is wrong than to deal with it intellectually.
4: 14 We have also seen a glaring lack of empathy during the Covid pandemic. Some feel that mask mandates are like being in a nazi death camp. That having to wear a piece of cloth or paper over your mouth and nose is actual oppression. 4: 15 Due to their brazen self-centeredness, they will never think about those at greater risk than themselves. 4: 16 They lack any sense of civic responsibility because society, in their minds, is there to serve them. 4: 17 And finally, their outright stupidity allows them to compare wearing masks to those that endured the Holocaust. 4: 18 I certainly do not expect the world to become any more empathetic. It is simply not in most people’s DNA. 4: 19 We are condemned for a reason, maybe because of our callousness and lack of empathy. 4: 20 Lack of empathy goes hand in hand with arrogance and condescension. People who express these tendencies have no place in society.