"We live in a world ... hardened and distorted by hate. We communicate in the language of fear and violence. Human beings are no longer viewed as human beings. They are no longer endowed in our eyes, or the eyes of those who oppose us, with human qualities. They do not love, grieve, suffer, laugh or weep. They represent cold abstractions of evil. The death-for-death means we communicate by producing corpses." . Chris Hedges
In 1946, Dr. Gustav M. Gilbert, a psychologist fluent in German, was assigned by the U.S. Army to study the minds and motivations of the Nazi defendants at the Nuremberg tribunals. The following year, his Nuremberg Diary was published, containing transcripts of his conversations with the prisoners. (Excerpts here).
In words consistent with what I have read of, and about, Gustav Gilbert, he is portrayed in the 2000 TV film "Nuremberg," as telling the Head Prosecutor Robert Jackson (Alex Baldwin), "I told you once that I was searching for the nature of evil. I think I've come close to defining it: a lack of empathy. It's the one characteristic that connects all the defendants: a genuine incapacity to feel with their fellow man. Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy."
"Absence of empathy" is likewise, I submit, "the one characteristic that connects" most of the immoral and misbegotten tenets of Bushism: that dogmatic mix of market absolutism, libertarianism, corporatism and simple greed that falsely describes itself as "conservatism," and which I choose to call "regressivism." "Absence of empathy" is the essence of evil which, if unchecked and unreversed, is certain to bring about the demise of the American republic as we know it, just as it led to the fall of the Third Reich.
In contrast, empathy, the capacity to recognize and cherish in other persons, the experience, emotions and aspirations that one is aware of in oneself, is the moral cornerstone of progressive politics. It is a principle recognized and taught in all the great world religions reiterated by numerous moral philosophers, and validated by the scientific study of human personality.
Empathy is the foundation of the moral teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. In that most-quoted New Testament verse, the golden rule, Jesus said: "as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." (Luke 6:31, also Matthew 7:2). Also, "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (Matthew 22:39, also Leviticus 19;18). Both commandments imply recognition in others of the human dignity and worth that one recognizes in oneself. In a word, empathy.
The golden rule is echoed in the moral teachings of Islam: "None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." And as Mohamed taught in his last sermon, "Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you." (Mohamed, last sermon). And Rabbi Hillel, a contemporary of Jesus, taught "What is hateful to yourself, do not do to your fellow man. That is the whole Torah; the rest is just commentary."
And yet, how much empathy is to be found among self-proclaimed "Christian" end-times preachers, such as James Hagee and Tim LeHaye, who eagerly anticipate "the rapture" and the eternal torment and damnation that awaits virtually all of humanity, as punishment for the sin of failing to agree with the preachers' theology? How much empathy is evident in the late Jerry Falwell's on-air remark to Wolf Blitzer, about Islamic militants, "If it takes 10 years, blow them all away in the name of the Lord," and Ann Coulter's infamous outburst, "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity." Because they explicitly renounce Jesus' injunction to "love thy enemies" these hate-mongers are, in a literal and moral sense, "anti-Christs."
Regressivism and the Absence of Empathy.
Empathy is conspicuously absent in the off-hand remarks of George Bush, his family, and his political allies. For example,
** Bush himself, to an ordinary citizen after a campaign event: "Who cares what you think?" And to Bob Woodward: "History, we don't know. We'll all be dead."
** The President's mother, Barbara Bush, on Good Morning America: "Why should we hear about body bags and deaths. Oh, I mean, it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?" (March 18, 2003).
** Dick Cheney, in an exchange with ABC reporter, Martha Raddatz:
Raddatz: Two-third of Americans say [the Iraq War] is not worth fighting.
Cheney: So?
Raddatz: So? You don't care what the American people think?
Dr. Ernest Partridge is a consultant, writer and lecturer in the field of Environmental Ethics and Public Policy. Partridge has taught philosophy at the University of California, and in Utah, Colorado and Wisconsin. He publishes the website, "The Online Gadfly" (www.igc.org/gadfly) and co-edits the progressive website, "The Crisis Papers" (www.crisispapers.org). His book in progress, "Conscience of a Progressive," can be seen at www.igc.org/gadfly/progressive/^toc.htm .
The author's definition of evil as the absence of empathy is also the defining characteristic of narcissistic sociopaths. The author of the very interesting book ''Political Ponerology'' considers that said sociopaths represent about 6% of humanity and that most of the evil on this earth is perpetrated by these 6%, the rest of humanity being either enablers (by tolerating their evil deeds), or victims.
And yes, recently, the GOP seems to attract an unprecedented number of sociopaths--and various sexual abusers and hypocritical perverts to boot--and the economic program of the neocons--destruction of social programs and collective solidarities, social Darwinism, the notion that everyone should be left to fend for oneself in a dog eat dog society with no help or regulation by the State is as devoid of empathy as one can be.
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francine (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 295 comments)
on Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at 7:00:19 AM
and as Hemingway said about those bastards,"They have a dignity of the hard chancre" and " eyes of unsuccessfull rapists'. It shows. I called them Cereal Rapists.
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Mark Sashine (46 articles, 19 quicklinks, 235 diaries, 3359 comments)
on Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at 8:16:35 AM
Empathy is also understood as projecting ones own personality into another in order to understand them better.
COMPASSION occurs when one is MOVED by the suffering of another to DO SOMETHING to help alleviate it.
"As the Dali Lama said, the radicalism of our age is to be compassionate human beings. We have been called to bring love and compassion back into the equation and assist others to connect with the deepest parts of themselves. Now is the time to realize, as never before, that when any of us suffer, we all suffer. All life is interconnected, interdependent, and greatly loved by the creator, the sustainer of the universe. We are called by love, for love, and to love.”
“Einstein wrote, ‘Human beings are limited in time and space. We experience ourselves in an optical delusion. We see ourselves as separate from others. Our task must be to free ourselves from our prison of self. Only through compassion can we begin to embrace all of Creation.’ The bumper sticker got it right; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.”-
keep up the good work.. It's an important topic to cover. Would like to talk with you off line about it. I think it would be good to have a discussion list just on the theme of Empathy.. here are some interviews I did on the topic. edwin
3. Progressive Values Stories: Loni Hancock on Empathy and Caring
This interview is with Loni Hancock, California Assembly member representing the 14th Assembly District: Serving Berkeley, Oakland, etc. Loni says that empathy and caring are the most important progressive values to her. She tells a childhood story about empathy and her visit to the zoo.
4. Progressive Values Stories: Joe Brewer on Empathy
I ran into Joe Brewer who was cleaning the streets of Oakland on Earth Day. Joe works as a fellow at the Rockridge Institute in Berkeley, California. He says empathy is the basic progressive value and tells a personal story about his experiences growing up in a small town and his visit to the squalor of India.
The biology of 'evil' in essence. Why some 6% of Homo sapiens sapiens have no empathy and treat the rest of us as pawns to be used by them as stepping stones to power over us. Not all are crooks or serial killers but they could be your cold hearted boss or co-worker or the president of any country. I suspect they are part of the cabal if not the core of the one that is turning the earth into a nasty, brutish and life cut short world. For us and a long rich life of power for them. Because of their particular abilities (no feelings for others) they will do things you or I wouldn't do because of moral and ethical reasons. They are not insane because they understand the difference between 'right' and 'wrong' as given by normals that they find strange but malleable by their machinations. Machiavelli was one of them and wrote like one without pretension. They will fit in for what they need. We are in dangerous times because we create concentrations of power that they are attracted to. Which they then use against us as they are doing now. All such people need to be removed from power for our own survival as a species .
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nightgaunt (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 89 comments)
on Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 2:27:39 PM
Does it seem odd to anyone else reading this fine article that only 6% of the population is holding 94% in thrall? Many of us who fall into the category of having empathy for our fellow humans seem to suffer from another dis-ease called apathy. Otherwise, that 6% would be in jail, serving the empathetic majority's agenda instead of the other way round. We clearly have the statistical advantage here. So, what's stopping us? Just a thought.
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Debbie Scally (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 42 comments)
on Monday, July 28, 2008 at 9:46:17 AM
