The Empathy Epidemic

Empathy has been lost in America. This is a bold claim to be sure, but it is not one unsubstantiated by evidence. If one were to look closely at any given issue in the US there is a common thread, an underpinned notion, that balks in the face of progress.

"It's not fair."

"I paid mine."

"What do I get out of this?"

"I don't like it."

When one is embroiled in a hotly-debated issue in America, the final argument frequently stems from one of these, admittedly, childish phrases. Why should tax payers subsidize loan forgiveness, health services, free housing or any of the plethora of social services that would help the most vulnerable in our community? It doesn't affect them personally, does it?

The concept that one should do something to help another is no longer a core value in America, if it ever was to begin with. We are the land of "pull yourself up by your boot straps" and "that would never happen to me" despite the fact that millions are only one medical bill away from financial ruin.

How is it that a country filled to the brim with different cultures, ethnicities and perspectives can be so closed minded? The answer is simple. The majority of the populace can no longer empathize with their fellow peers. Perhaps this was a skill lost to the ages, perhaps it is a technique born only from trauma and struggle. Whatever the reason, the result is the same. Progress has stagnated, the wealthy become more wealthy and the poor are left to starve.

I have heard several phrases over the past few years as civil rights are being put to the test. The most potent I have heard is this: “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”

This is a famous quote by John Steinbeck, an American Author, and it encapsulates the current economic condition in the US. Despite the near insurmountable rates of homelessness, imprisonment, debt, and death in this country, the majority would rather turn a blind eye to suffering and look out solely for themselves.

Reddit threads discussing the cost of being poor, discussions of the unpaid labor of those imprisoned and their inhumane treatment, a lack of care for those with ectopic pregnancies - none of these can even begin to break through the cold, uncaring American heart. Children without proper care take their own lives, are sold to the highest bidder in modern-day child markets, and wither away at jobs with a declining economic return, and yet the common person will still vote against their own interests.

Empathy is all but lost in America. The world is burning, indigenous communities go without clean water, the unhoused are chased out of public spaces with nowhere left to go. The tears of those who suffer in this cruel country could fill lakes, and yet there are so few willing to change. The cries of "pro-life" fall on the battered ears of those already here, already suffering. The shouts of "all lives matter" cascade over the bodies of the countless murdered people of color. The pleas to change our course before the planet can not be saved are drowned out by stock prices, commuting to the office and the endless barrage of tragedies on the news.

Empathy does not exist in America. I fear it never will.
May 9th, 2022 at 04:54pm