Monday, June 01, 2009

PHONY EMPATHY IS ALL THE RAGE!

Like phony everything is all the rage. What else can you expect in Happy Gumdrop Land?
Greg Gutfield on empathy:
As a short, white guy with a weird late night show – I suppose I should only empathize with other short white guys with weird late night shows. I certainly cannot empathize with a Latina, or a black person, or anyone else for that matter – because in the oppressed/oppressor Marxist model, my racial identity is deemed far more important than our shared humanity. I know: I am a Caucasian white male. Not a real human being.

But that’s not how empathy is supposed to work. I mean, if you lost a parent, you can empathize with someone, black or white, who lost a parent. If you’re short, you can empathize with short people - even if they’re from Spain (true). If your Japanese friend loses a job, you empathize – because you remember how that felt when it happened to you (and you’re not even Japanese!). Married men empathize with ALL married man, regardless of ethnic identity. Women empathize with all women across the board, because men are a pain in the ass to live with. You see, empathy was supposed to be inclusive – a way to initiate contact with others, instead of excluding those who don’t seem to fit.

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