First, a definition: For the poorly-educated and other Trump
supporters, empathy is “the ability to understand and share the feelings of
another.” Truly empathetic people tend to “adopt” other people’s issues as
though they were their own and look for ways to do something about them.
In other words, empathy
creates awareness which leads to involvement which many times evolves
into activism. Because they are aware
of their surroundings, and can clearly see what’s happening around them, empathetic
people are more likely to get involved with issues and concerns, and if they
have means, they might even back up their involvement with goods, services or money.
For example: See a homeless man, buy him lunch and write a
check to a shelter, or donate to a food bank. Find a discarded pet on a busy highway,
take it to a shelter along with a couple bags of food and some toys. Care about
wildlife, stop discarding plastic bags and straws. And so on…
The antithesis of empathy is narcissism compounded by antipathy,
indifference and greed. That’s not to say that narcissists can’t see what’s
going on around them. It just means that if it doesn’t benefit them personally in
some way or another, then they simply do not care.
Recently, we’ve seen a number of examples where our current government and the entities it supports have cast empathy aside for the benefit
of the wealthy. Specifically, a series of environmental protections have been trashed
to enable corporations to make more profit, and our immigration policy has
created turmoil at our southern border at the expense of human families.
Because they have no empathy, our government leaders want to
open up national parks and wildlife refuges for oil and gas exploration, restore
the use of deadly pesticides that are killing the bees that pollinate our
crops, allow the slaughter of baby animals inside a wildlife refuge, discard
the endangered species list and allow coal operators to dump mine waste into
streams…and that’s just off the top of my head. I didn’t even have to google.
Most recently, in Florida, a “red tide” fed by runoff from
Lake Okeechobee has poisoned 100 or so miles of the state’s southwestern coastline
and killed thousands of fish and other aquatic animals. It is also making
residents sick.
Red tide is the name given to toxic algae blooms which
appear in the lake almost every year, promoted by stagnant water, high
temperatures and nutrients from sources like fertilizers, and amplified this
year by the effects of climate change, according to marine scientists. While it’s
not conclusive that this year’s killer algae is being exacerbated by agricultural
waste from the state’s sugar and citrus industries, scientists say that is one
possible cause or at least a contributing factor.
“That lake is heavily impacted by citrus agriculture,” said
Christopher J. Gobler, professor of marine science at Stony Brook University, so
in effect, Florida is shutting down tourism at many of its beaches, killing
animals and sickening its citizens so it can protect profits for its largest
farms.
Empathetic yet? I never even got to the immigration crisis.
It may be easy to sit back and watch as our government rapes
the environment, disrupts innocent families and ignores the needs of the needy,
but what if something like this were to happen to you?
What if the Acme Chemical Company came to your house and
dumped truckloads of toxic waste in your back yard, which leached into your
ground water, poisoned and killed your dog and cat and made you and your family
very sick. They did this to save money on waste disposal, but at your expense. Would
you be upset? Would you want to fight back?
Or, let’s pretend that the local police came to your house,
kidnapped your children and carted them off to an abandoned animal shelter
where they were placed in cages and left there for weeks. Meanwhile, they
shoved you into a bus and drove you to another state, then forgot which state
you were in and which children were yours, and then we learned that they had no
plan to reunite you. Would that be a tragedy for you and your kids?
Or, let’s imagine that Bigazz Petroleum Company came to your
town, set up shop in your favorite city park and started drilling for oil right
between the swing sets and the merry-go-round. They blocked off the site so
your children couldn’t play there and turned the park into a refinery. Would
you be happy about that?
What if, the following week, Frank’s Fracking started
drilling into the bedrock under your house, which shook the whole structure off
its foundation and caused your drinking water to burst into flames?
I suspect that’s when empathy would finally come home to
roost.
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