Good morning,
First, thank you to all who shared notes of encouragement as I continue on the mend from spinal surgery earlier this week. Notwithstanding the temporary pain from the surgery, I count myself fortunate that such procedures are available today for what, in earlier times, would be a prescription for declining quality of life.
(The man of melancholy frame of mind) cares little for what others judge, what they consider good or true…Truthfulness is sublime, and he hates lies or dissimulation. He has a high feeling of the dignity of human nature. He values himself and regards a human being as a creature who merits respect. He suffers no depraved submissiveness, and breathes freedom in a noble breast. All chains, from the gilded ones worn at court to the heavy irons of galley slaves, are abominable to him. He is a strict judge of himself and others, and not seldom is weary of himself as of the world…. He is in danger of becoming a visionary or a crank.
-- Immanuel Kant, Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime
Thanks, Adam Torson, for forwarding this great Kantian quotation!
ALTERNATIVE HISTORY
In the early days of the Ukraine invasion, I listened to an interview of former President Trump. His questioner was the friendliest of newsmen for him—Sean Hannity. What was stunning was how Mr. Trump answered Mr. Hannity’s question about the aggression and war crimes of the Russians and the carnage, killing, and destruction in Ukraine. Our former president proceeded to talk for several uninterrupted minutes about how, if it were not for him demanding that NATO members carry their own weight, there would have been no reaction to Putin. He described how he was singularly responsible for saving Europe. Never once in his three-minute long infomercial about himself did Mr. Trump answer the question, much less acknowledge the crimes of Putin and the Russian army. Most importantly, he did not demonstrate empathy for the Ukrainian people and their suffering.
EMPATHY
What the above anecdote highlights is former president’s inability to share in the plight of others—to “walk in someone else’s shoes.” One of the most important aspects of our being, and one that makes us the most human, is the ability to have empathy for the plight of another. In the case of Mr. Trump’s inability to connect with the unfolding tragedy in Ukraine is hardly surprising.
The absence of empathy more generally (or the display of “faux” empathy) and the inability to consider another person’s plight or point of view is a poison that exists in many contexts, including:
The seeming inability of some to grasp the hopelessness of the middle aged man in the Midwest who has lost his job and lacks the skills or available job training to make it in the modern economy.
The difficulty to grasp the profound challenges of raising a Black or immigrant child in an underserved area, unsupported by quality education, and threatened by crime lurking around the corner.
The despair of a young woman whose life is turned upside-down by an unwanted pregnancy that will forever affect her prosperity, her mental health, and/or her physical health if forced to bring that child to term.
The senseless deaths of tens of thousands of people lost to drug overdoses in America each year, the product of any number of crises worthy of empathy, including the lack of opportunity, the struggle to “feel better,” or to just fit in—fueled in no small part by the profit motives of people like Purdue Pharmaceuticals and the Sacklers.
The shattered lives of the families of victims of yet another mass shooting—so often committed, ironically and tragically—at a school or place of worship. And shortly after the performative act of expressing sorrow and promising “thoughts and prayers,” its human toll falling into the abyss of indifference of a nation inured to its repetition, resistant to meaningful legislation to limit the ubiquity of guns.
CLASSIC INSULTS
In the “old days,” people seemed more intelligent in their insults:
"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend, if you have one.” -George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one.” - Winston Churchill, in response.
Have a great day,
Glenn
From the archives:
Glenn- hope surgery solved your back problem....`If you need PT.. see Sally Ho in BH.. she's great..really helped me. Bunny
I hope you are feeling better Glenn.