May 15, 2013

The case against empathy

The case against empathy:
"Empathy betrays us only when we take it as a moral guide ... Newtown, in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, was inundated with so much charity that it became a burden ... A vast warehouse was crammed with plush toys the townspeople had no use for; millions of dollars rolled in to this relatively affluent community. We felt their pain; we wanted to help. Meanwhile—just to begin a very long list—almost twenty million American children go to bed hungry each night ... Our hearts will always go out to the baby in the well; it’s a measure of our humanity. But empathy will have to yield to reason if humanity is to have a future."

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