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I'm a Republican, and I have MUCH MORE empathy for my fellow average Americans than any of the Progressives, or Democrats, or liberals I know of. I am a strong advocate of the average American, the "little guy," and the working class. On the other hand, I don't think I owe a single mother with 5 kids (all from different fathers) ANYTHING. And while Progressives think their great support of single mothers is a sign of empathy, I disagree: I'd say it's a sign of stupidity. Maximizing the number of children raised in poverty and without the stability of a 2-parent home is NOT in the interests of anyone (except Big Government).
After working for government for over a decade (and studying it my whole life), I know from personal experience that Big Government endlessly schemes to take more from the working class (who provide over 80% of federal income), while rewarding itself, the ultra-rich, and those groups who are grossly irresponsible and/or corrupt. Even worse, all of Big Government's policies over my lifetime have HURT the working class: "income inequality has resulted from deliberate government policy choices, policy decisions made on behalf of those with the most income, wealth, and power that suppressed wage growth. Research has consistently shown that the government is more responsive to the desires of the rich than everyone else." Wages Have Been Stagnant For 40 Years But It's Not The Fault Of American Workers | ThinkProgress
Examples? Open-door immigration since 1965 flooded the workforce and destroyed the value of labor, causing median wages to collapse and stagnate. Free Trade and corporate tax policy encouraged businesses to send jobs and manufacturing overseas. Insane government overspending and borrowing caused interest rates to be reduced to below 3% since 2011, and almost nothing since then, making sure that the Baby Boom can't retire no matter how hard they save.
Goodbye, "miracle of compounding returns" that was supposed to make up for pensions going away--for everyone other than government employees, that is; they still have generous pensions and benefits that are quickly exceeding what the average American can afford to support.
Why don't liberals have any empathy for the people that are being forced out of their paid-for homes, thanks to ridiculous property taxes that skyrocket again every 5 years here in NH? I just got notice that my family home in Hampton NH is being re-assessed at 31% more than it was 5 years ago--despite no improvements being made, and a real estate market where properties usually sell for LESS than they did then. The new tax assessment is $81,000 than the (generous) Zillow estimate.
With the "new normal" economy of minimal economic growth, not even people who work at good jobs can expect to see their incomes increase over 30% every 5 years--and certainly retirees, the disabled, and those who got laid off are eventually going to be forced out of their homes. There's a good chance they can't even sell the properties they now can't afford to pay taxes on! Politicians don't seem to recognize (or care) that property owners are no richer than they were 5 years ago, just because the handful of properties that sold in the last 5 years were worth more than the ones that sold before. Plenty of properties here won't sell unless it is at a HUGE discount over the tax assessment; plenty of homes go on the market and then are simply taken off the market when they get no offers. That fact is not taken into account AT ALL when doing tax reassessments.
Progressives somehow think MORE Big Government is the answer to the decline of American quality of life--despite the fact that the bigger government gets, the worse quality of life gets for the average American.
Most Republicans I know have deep disdain for poor people, believing if they are given money that they will only head straight for the bar, casino, or liquor store with it.
You have "Poor People" mixed up with "worthless people" that don't want to work, and would rather buy beer than food for the kids. Which part of that don't you understand?
Most leftists use empathy as a way to puff up their own chests. They do very little that backs up their words.
Oh, they want to give alright, but give with your money. Bring in thousands of Muslim refugees, yep, give them money, yep, your money. Give Illegal aliens citizenship, yep, with your money. Give them jobs, so they can better themselves. Yep, your jobs. They have loads of empathy you haven't even thought of yet.
In regards to college tuition, my father worked during high school and was able to pay for college.
I couldn't do that. I'd have to work well over 17 hours a week for over 4 years to afford tuition at a state school, and that's assuming I didn't eat while at university. While I think there are also strong arguments and a more progressive plan for publicly funded college tuition, there are parts of that which lack empathy.
People used to work to pay for Education, and they worked a lot more than 17 hours a week. There are people today not in school that work 80 hours or more a week. You say you "couldn't' do that, but what you said is you "Wouldn't do that" because you would not want to work and go to school. That's cool. Don't go to school. As part of that "Public" funding, I have no intention of paying for you to go to school, or any other person. If the parents want them in school, let them pay for it. I pay enough in Taxes to send other peoples kids to school for grades 1 to 12, and that's plenty. On top of that, now we have to feed them too. If parents can't feed their kids, they should not be allowed to have any.
ummmm......I wouldn't call it lack of empathy but lack of wanting others to continuously pay for other peoples problems when those other people do not want to do for themselves but expect the government to pay for it.
“It is easy to be compassionate if others are being forced to pay the costâ€
- M Rothbard
Lord help us all: Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another being (a human or non-human animal) is experiencing from within the other being's frame of reference,
I think what we have here is a failure to communicate.
Do people on the take have empathy for others who get up early to go to work when they'd rather stay in bed?
Do they have empathy for the people who miss their children's birthday or miss holidays with their families because they have to work. Do they empathy when these people are just plain tired of the grind? No, they don't, they can't see past their own failures and greed of wanting money that others worked hard to earn.
What does stealing have to do with empathy? The dark overlord, otherwise known as Cheney, has empathy for gays because of his gay daughter. While his party's base, not so much.
If a majority of Republicans had gay daughters, there would be a lot more empathy in the Republican Party. See how that works?
You do realize that more and more Republicans support gay marriage, don't you? There are two types of Republicans - social conservatives and fiscal conservatives. Then, you have the liberatarian side that is really socially liberal, but doesn't like the wars, the drug war, or bans on gay marriage.
In fairness, the concept of something happening to you that causes you to change an opinion on something is not Republican exclusive. It does happen to them more. Granted, this seems to be pretty exclusive to social issues. A pro-traditional marriage conservative's daughter comes out as gay and suddenly, his position on same sex marriage softens up a bit. We see it more with social issues because they're entirely determined by empathy. Understanding a gay person makes you more likely not not think they're evil degenerates. Ignorance leads you to think they are.
Things like healthcare are different. Conservative opposition of things like universal healthcare are not due to a lack of empathy. Not entirely anyway. The ones who just go right to the "freeloader" argument probably do lack empathy (and often intelligence). But there are logistical and principled arguments against universal healthcare. A lack of empathy can exist. In regards to college tuition, my father worked during high school and was able to pay for college. I couldn't do that. I'd have to work well over 17 hours a week for over 4 years to afford tuition at a state school, and that's assuming I didn't eat while at university. While I think there are also strong arguments and a more progressive plan for publicly funded college tuition, there are parts of that which lack empathy.
In fairness, when you or others who get a subsidy for you healthcare, do you have empathy for the people who pay full sky rocketing premiums for the same policy after Obamacare became law. How many hours did they have to work to pay while you get a subsidy and low rates.
Lets say you pay $100 a month which is subsidies while the next person has to pay $800 a month for the same policy. Do you have empathy?
In what world do you expect the people paying sky high premiums to have empathy? And you wonder why?
People used to work to pay for Education, and they worked a lot more than 17 hours a week. There are people today not in school that work 80 hours or more a week. You say you "couldn't' do that, but what you said is you "Wouldn't do that" because you would not want to work and go to school. That's cool. Don't go to school. As part of that "Public" funding, I have no intention of paying for you to go to school, or any other person. If the parents want them in school, let them pay for it. I pay enough in Taxes to send other peoples kids to school for grades 1 to 12, and that's plenty. On top of that, now we have to feed them too. If parents can't feed their kids, they should not be allowed to have any.
People used to have pensions. They didn't have to pay for retirement because they died at age 68. Pay has not kept up with cost of living. Your pappy wasn't the greatest generation - - they had advantages that today's working people don't have.
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