Empathy

[Jane_the_Bane]

Not an easy thing to say for a half-German, either.
Especially with the whole family being decimated, and a grandfather who only escaped the death camps because his work in the coal mines was too important to the authorities. Forced labourers were sent there, too, so his usual line of work was obviously punishment enough. (As a member of the Social Democrats, the only party who resisted Hitler in 1933, he was very high on the list of potential KZ-detainees.)

The full horror of Nazi Germany is only revealed when you consider the silent majority of those people who weren't brainwashed into believing racist propaganda, but STILL didn't lift a finger for fear of being punished, or merely didn't (want to) know what was happening to the Jews.
My grandparents were certainly guilty of that. And while I'm perfectly sure that I wouldn't have been a nazi (I'm strongly opposed to all forms of authority worship and nationalism, and not only because of some history lessons), I'm not so sure if I'd have acted, either.

 

[SallyNow]

The full horror of Nazi Germany is only revealed when you consider the silent majority of those people who weren't brainwashed into believing racist propaganda, but STILL didn't lift a finger for fear of being punished, or merely didn't (want to) know what was happening to the Jews.
My grandparents were certainly guilty of that. And while I'm perfectly sure that I wouldn't have been a nazi (I'm strongly opposed to all forms of authority worship and nationalism, and not only because of some history lessons), I'm not so sure if I'd have acted, either.

Fear was certianly a factor, along with wanting to live, wanting to see your family live, and of course, not everyone actually saw what was happening in concentration camps across Europe. This does not excuse what happened, but really one must think, what really would have each and every one of us done?

Take, for instance, child and sweat-shop labour. Oh, people talk about it-but often the slavery of others is rationalized by saying "Well, if those other children didn't make toys in forced and unsafe conditions, my kid couldn't have thirty Barbies". People sit back today and rationalize slavery so they can get cheap prices.

(I have to say that, sadly, I do sometimes buy stuff without looking closely at where it was made. I generally shop responsibly-or just don't shop at all-but I still fall woefully short of truly, always, shopping with empathy for the workers and the residents around the factories that make the things I buy)

Or, for instance, I was listening to the radio the other day, and heard that yet another community was protesting a satellite clinic for drug rehab and AIDS/HIV treatment. People were calling in how we should "emphathise" with the residents of the community-implying that the poor, the sick, and the victimized are not residents.

Can any of use really empathize with the hard-core Nazis, or major drug pushers, or sweat-shop bosses who lock their workers into (and sometimes to) buildings?

People talk about empathy. But when it comes down to it, when is it applied? Yes, billions of people every day do emphathize. But almost everyone falls short of really doing the job. Perhaps, then, we need empathy for all those-all of us-who fall short of truly doing what is recommended in the excellent OP:

"Before you abuse, criticize, and accuse, walk a mile in my shoes"

 

[sethad]

There are some types of people that I dont waste "empathy" on.

Pedophiles and racists, to name a couple.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

Empathy, like tolerance, is a term that invites misinterpretations and abuse.

I can put myself in the shoes of a ruthless CEO erecting sweatshops in the third world - but that doesn't mean that I like what I see when I do, or agree with it. Quite the contrary. Certain forms of predatory (or shall we say inherently sociopathic) capitalism have a disturbing degree of self-sustaining logic, a vicious circle that cannot be broken if you blindly accept its premises.
People don't slaughter wales, destroy rainforests, support child/slave labour or pollute their environment because they think it's such a brilliant idea to be wicked and self-destructive. They do so because they believe that this is what they MUST do.

 

[Eudaimonist]

Certain forms of predatory (or shall we say inherently sociopathic) capitalism have a disturbing degree of self-sustaining logic, a vicious circle that cannot be broken if you blindly accept its premises.

I agree in principle, though I'd say this applies to certain forms of stifling socialism.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

I agree in principle, though I'd say this applies to certain forms of stifling socialism.

And I'd say it applies to certain forms of socialism, too. But that's politics, not ethics. (Although the two may overlap to a certain degree).

 

[chalice_thunder]

...
Atrocities become possible because people manage to deny somebody else's inherent humanity. Ironically, they de-humanize themselves by doing so.

So true, Jane.

I was just reflecting on the number of people I could name who displayed empathy and hearts for justice, and who have done so in a non-violent fashion:

Jesus
Ghandi
Martin Luther King Jr
Desmond Tutu
Mel White

I am sure there are others, but they do not immediately leap to mind.

 

[TScott]

ah yes, empathy... being able to sympathize with ones situation and their feelings.

That isn't really what empathy is, while it may be true that sympathy is a form of empathy, empathy is not always synonimous with sympathy. IOW you do not have to sympathize with someone to empathize with them.

As has been pointed out, some times it is important to empathize with someone who is doing or has done something you would never dream of doing.

As has been pointed out with the referrences to Nazi Germany. Certainly people knew and understood that something was going on, but did little to help out of fear. When the full realization sunk in after the war it was too much for some to bear the guilt. It's also, as has been pointed out, important to understand what was going on in the minds of those who hated people so much that they wanted to exterminate a whole people based solely on that hatred. This isn't sympathy for these people, it is understanding why they were the way they were. There were reasons. Europe didn't just wake up one day and decide to hate Jews. It was a process that grew in each individual of a group for generations. It is essential that we empathize with these people, otherwise we have no referrence to recognize the re-emergence of this type of group-think. It will repeat and keep repeating until we realize that what happened to Nazi Germany had less to do with Adolf Hitler and more to do with the way the average people were thinking at that time, not just in Germany, but in all of Europe.

 

[praying]

ah yes, empathy... being able to sympathize with ones situation and their feelings.
This is deffinitely lacking in those who condem on actions they see as black and white while they're actually anything but.

Also, empathy, being such a strong emotion in me, happens to be the main reason I'm a "good" person.

Empathy is not sympathy they are distinctly different


Main Entry: em·pa·thy
Pronunciation: 'em-p&-thE
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek empatheia, literally, passion, from empathEs emotional, from em- + pathos feelings, emotion -- more at PATHOS
1 : the imaginative projection of a subjective state into an object so that the object appears to be infused with it
2 : the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner; also : the capacity for this



Main Entry: sym·pa·thy
Pronunciation: 'sim-p&-thE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -thies
Etymology: Latin sympathia, from Greek sympatheia, from sympathEs having common feelings, sympathetic, from syn- + pathos feelings, emotion, experience -- more at PATHOS
1 a : an affinity, association, or relationship between persons or things wherein whatever affects one similarly affects the other b : mutual or parallel susceptibility or a condition brought about by it c : unity or harmony in action or effect
2 a : inclination to think or feel alike : emotional or intellectual accord b : feeling of loyalty : tendency to favor or support <republican sympathies>
3 a : the act or capacity of entering into or sharing the feelings or interests of another b : the feeling or mental state brought about by such sensitivity <have sympathy for the poor>
4 : the correlation existing between bodies capable of communicating their vibrational energy to one another through some medium

 

[Cerberus~]

If boy band lovers, decide to revive pop-musics boy bands of the 90s, by standing on the street corner singing backstreet boys, and nsync songs during all daylight hours, 7 days a week.... that's free speech right?

No, that's terrorism. They should all be arrested and forced to take musical taste 101.

Yup, I enjoy it, too!
AVATAR COMBO!

And I would like to give you an overdue thanks for your av of the hottest redhead in the world.