One definition of "empathy" is: "the psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another."
As I think about the deepening divisions in our country, and as I observe our strengthening proclivity for binary thought and a clear unwillingness to give an inch in political conversation, it occurs to me that an increasing lack of empathy may be at its foundation - both as a cause and an effect.
The less we communicate civilly, the more we distance ourselves from contrary thought and opinion, the less understanding we have of those with whom we disagree. It seems like we can in no way even understand the other person's perspective, that we tend to create immediate distortedcaricatures of it, and that gives us license to ignore/dismiss it out of hand.
Do we, or do we not, want to at least have an accurate understanding of, and appreciation for, another person's perspective on an issue before we respond?
Isn't there something potentially constructive or valuable, something we haven't thought about, somewhere within another person's perspective?
What stops us, do you suppose, from maintaining enough empathy for at least understanding and appreciating the view of someone who does not agree with us?
Three questions there. Let's see if we can put down our fists and dig a little.
.
Another well written, well intended post it seems. I do enjoy reading them even though I most often disagree with your premise(s). The ethos of your idea here is swallowed whole by the elephant lurking not so silently in the "room" of our nation. It's impossible to ignore that just honed to a gleam razor's edge the radical American Left holds to the throat of Western Civilization. I get it, Mac . . . you want to negotiate; walk down the middle of the road, identify on some level with
both sides and otherwise come off as a voice of reason, as a grownup in the "room". Problem with trying to fulfill that role in this day and age is attempting to do so completely misses a tragically fundamental mark. See, regardless of what one side, Right or Left might argue or preach, there exists foundational, eternal human Right and human Wrong, human good and human evil. Seems to me you would attempt to redefine them in order to avoid inevitable conflict.
The ideologies of both the Left and Right will argue infinitely over what is moral and just, while radical Leftist philosophers debate whether or not "good" or rather "moral" good even exists. They will sell our youth on the notion that the ancient concept of human "good" is relative to each individual person and/or situation; that anything goes depending on personal desire or goal. Both the American political and ideological Right and Left are equally corrupt, no doubt about it. However, the radical American Left now overtly runs on, pushes and teaches ideological goals which clearly run against the survival of both the human race at large, and modern Western civilization. If "they" fully get their way, civilization as we know it, the culmination of fifty millennia of human social development, will
end.
Thus, in the face of such a threat no amount of empathy, negotiation or appeasement of the enemies of civilization will achieve what you speculate. Compromise was never an option. Did Napoleon compromise with the remnants of the French radical Left who drove his nation to ruin during its first revolution? Did the North Vietnamese compromise with Pol Pot's murder regime in Cambodia? What you're missing here (I hope) is the radical American Left's relentless assault on human life and human "good" as we've always known it across the Western World. Is the American Right flawless, devoid of "sin" or institutionalized corruption? Hell no. Human nature tends to thrive on organized greed and oppression, to require it to some degree for civilization to exist. However, the American Left of our day, the core ethos of its ideology now become a full blown cult, is to have that power the Right still holds, plus dictate the beliefs and limitations of freedom for every American. Total domination over our minds and bodies. How can empathy for those who will destroy our freedom and individuality if allowed to do so make a difference on the eve of America's collapse. The time to choose sides is
now. I pity those who double line walk down the middle of the road.
