The politicization of empathy

| 6:00 pm EDT October 21, 2022
Dear Palmer Report readers, we all understand the difficult era we're heading into. Major media outlets are caving to Trump already. Even the internet itself and publishing platforms may be at risk. But Palmer Report is nonetheless going to lead the fight. We're funding our 2025 operating expenses now, so we can keep publishing no matter what happens. I'm asking you to contribute if you can, because the stakes are just so high. You can donate here.

There is a certain type of person who votes blue. Usually, that person has distinctive personality traits. One of those traits is empathy. Democrats, in general, appear to be a whole lot more empathetic than republicans. Democrats are much more concerned with helping their fellow Americans than Republicans, and we often tend to be idealists as well.

But sadly, empathy has become politicized, as have so many other things. And it hurts. It hurts because, being empathetic people, we don’t like to see empathy politicized for cheap political talking points. Only that’s been happening for years now.

Empathy is dying a slow death in America. Have you noticed that many in this country seem angrier? That people seem less empathetic? I believe the politicization of empathy is a big reason why. The GOP thinks empathy is a nuisance. They shrug it off like flies on their shoulders. All of their beliefs involve taking away empathy.

Robbing women of their autonomy, taking away the rights of LGBTQ children, tinkering with Social Security — one does not have trouble doing that if one has no empathy. For me that means the end of the American experiment. Where would this country be without empathy? I can’t even imagine.

Joy Reid had a segment on empathy on her show The ReidOut, the other evening. And these were the words uttered which were chilling: “The biggest threat to fascism is empathy. That’s what the anti-woke people are most afraid of: their kids, their grandkids, giving empathy for people who aren’t like them.”

I agree. Without empathy, the road to fascism is much easier, which is the GOP’s ultimate goal. Robbing people of their ability to feel, care, and love is to turn people into soulless foot soldiers, sterile versions of what they once were — robots. One of the greatest threats to our country is the politicization of empathy and the tearing down of love. Let’s not let them win.