[quote=AN][quote=CA renter][quote=AN]CAR, you sound exactly like those AM talk show hosts on the right, except, you just replace liberal with conservative. I find it quite amusing actually that you vilify conservatives just like those AM talk show hosts vilify the liberal. I’m neither a liberal or a conservative, so I get a good chuckle watching both extremes vilify each other.[/quote]
I believe that our two-party system has been structured in a way that best enables the PTB to manipulate the masses. Party affiliations don’t mean much to me. I vote for (or against) individuals from either party, and am extremely conservative in some ways, while extremely liberal in others. I’m not vilifying anyone, just noting some differences that keep popping up over and over again.
FWIW, I can be extremely intolerant, too. Don’t get me started on criminals who prey on innocent people…I have zero empathy when it comes to people who do that.[/quote]Here’s the difference between empathy and sympathy: http://www.diffen.com/difference/Empathy_vs_Sympathy. I don’t believe most people who were never poor can really understand how poor people feel or what they’re going through. So, I don’t believe most of them are empathetic to poor people. I believe most of them are sympathetic, but not empathetic. Just because you vote to take other people’s money to create these social safety net doesn’t make you empathetic. Empathy goes beyond sympathy and I don’t believe most people, from either side are there.
You stated that liberals are more empathetic than conservatives. But you say you’re both liberal and conservative. So, are you more or less empathetic, since you say you’re both? Don’t you think most people in America are the same as you? So, to say liberal are more empathetic than conservative doesn’t make any sense. Whether you think calling conservative non-empathetic is vilifying or not, that’s up to you. My point is, I’ve heard AM talk show hosts talking about liberal the same way you talk about conservative. You and them make it seem people are so black and white instead of acknowledging that the majority are grey. Such as yourself as an example.[/quote]
Yes, I’m aware of the differences between empathy and sympathy, and believe that some people are able to empathize with others even if they haven’t had the same experiences in their own life — they will find similar situations, account for the differences in experience, and will literally try to see things from the other person’s perspective.
I believe that most things in life lie somewhere on a spectrum, and this includes the ability to empathize with others. A person who regularly and naturally sees things from the perspectives of others is quite empathetic. IMO, if we could line people up in order along this empathy spectrum, I believe that the side that leans most empathetic would have a higher percentage of liberals, and the side that is less empathetic would have a higher percentage of conservatives. No, I don’t think we are all the same. We are all different, and our ability to empathize is no different than anything else — we all lie somewhere on a spectrum.
Nobody’s talking about empathy being related to “taking another person’s money,” we’re talking about doing what seems fair and right when people find themselves in circumstances over which they have little/no control (both good and bad). In my case, I’ve often advocated for and voted for things that are detrimental to my own personal situation; but I understand the role of luck, both in my own (lucky) circumstances, and the unlucky circumstances of others. I’m probably on the more empathetic side of the spectrum, but not at the extreme. I do try to always take into consideration the experiences and conditions of others, and strongly desire to see the greatest possible number of people have the greatest possible quality of life (including wealth/income/power). This is more of an empathetic stance than desiring to see myself succeed at the expense of others, like advocating for Dawinian capitalism, for instance.
