Member-only story
Censorship and Empathy
Testing our democracy and humanity
To put it mildly, these are trying times. My wife, a therapist, read the other day that one of the markers of the collapse into authoritarianism is the dwindling or sinking of the ability to feel empathy. She and my own series of therapists have suggested or underscored that I have a tendency to over-empathize, though I think that manifests mainly when I believe my dog will be sad if I leave him at home when I go to the grocery store, as I’ll be doing after writing this.
I have, truth be known, decided not to go to certain events because of this sense of empathy with my co-best friend. I don’t want him to be sad, and if this sounds crazy, well, I’ve already admitted the therapist part of me.
In the past few months, many people have urged me to understand that we liberal elites (I definitely teach the high art form of literature at a liberal arts college) have lacked both understanding and empathy for the working class American — the American who voted Republican in the last presidential election, opting for a several-times bankrupted billionaire and convicted felon who, they hoped, understood them better than the Democrats had or did.
I don’t think any of them hoped for empathy from the person they elected, and I’ll be honest in sharing that I haven’t extended much…
