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On empathy and its limits


Head of FiveThirtyEight, G. Elliott Morris, had a doozy of a post yesterday.


Where to even begin with this tripe?

Trump voters secured the victory of their favored candidate. And yet it's the rest of us who must "understand" them and have "empathy." Trump voters have no agency; they are mere lemmings, led over the cliff by the Pied Piper. The rest of us, the responsible ones, must put away our anger and delve into why Trumpists act this way. We must have unlimited sympathy for their actions. In the end, they're not responsible for their actions; ultimately, we are to blame.

See, we drove them to this. With our mockery. With our condescension. With our inconvenient habit of stating truths, like that he is a rapist, a fraudster, a traitor. They had no choice but to lash out and vote him in. They bear no onus. They are mere tabulae rasae, blank slates to be scribbled on with hateful things by those who feed them anger and grievance. If we had been nicer to them, we might not be in this situation.

It is a truism: liberals, being more educated and more filled with the milk of human kindness, must always reassure the poor benighted right wing that they mean them no harm. In this way, they can bring the people who vote to harm themselves and others out of the darkness. Farmers about to lose their undocumented labor force didn't vote for that. Manufacturers about to be ravaged by tariffs didn't vote for that. Gamer bros about to have to pay twice as much for their kit didn't vote for that. They simply voted out of tribalism, not thinking about policy, but only about "owning the libs."

Let's take that at face value: if this is the case, how does that make their actions any better than if they voted with full consciousness of the consequences? How does pushing a button to blow up the world without full knowledge of what you're doing be something worthy of understanding, empathy, sympathy? In fact, it's far worse. It's an indication that you shouldn't be trusted with sharp scissors, much less the political fate of the world's last empire. Out of a fit of pique, out of anti-incumbent rage, out of fury at changing cultural norms, they voted to slice their own throats as well as ours. How is this commendable, or worthy of compassion? Why must I feel concern for such a person? Why must I show leniency, as if for an errant child?

These are not children. These are adults who managed to register to vote, managed to transport themselves to the polling place, and managed to cast their ballot. All these are acts of mentally competent individuals. Were they to be brought to trial, any argument that they were not responsible for their actions by reason of mental incapacity would be laughed out of the court.

While the pundit class continually urges us to accept and recognize their feelings of injustice, this same class never once asks that they reciprocate and understand us. Again, they have no agency; only liberals do.

I don't hate them. I don't pity them, either. I feel, at this moment, nothing. I don't see them as anyone to whom I must give credence. By their actions they have shown themselves to be beneath my contempt. I will notice them only to the extent that I will smile a small smile as they face import of their decisions, as everything they thought they had voted for will fall about them like shattering glass. I reserve my empathy for those who didn't choose this.