There has been a concerning development within certain sides of the American conservative and republican movements, particularly online, that will no doubt affect how those beliefs will be practiced in the future. It’s something that, while obvious to some, I see little to no democratic politicians and figures making an effort to address seriously. The American right is slowly igniting a war on the concept of empathy itself.
Those who know where to look can already see the effects of this ideological war on websites like Twitter, Reddit, Truth Social, sites where there is a heavy concentration of republican and conservative-leaning people. More and more, there has been an increased effort to discourage people from empathizing with others, from making the concept seem not worth the effort, or just treating it like a bad thing overall. Unsurprisingly, even large figures like Elon Musk, who told Joe Rogan on his podcast back in April that “suicidal empathy” would destroy the West.
Outside online spaces, this way of thinking is increasingly found in many Southern Baptist churches. It’s the latest in a concerning trend within churches that heavily support Trump, going against the traditional teachings of Christianity, where some have even put Trump above Jesus Christ himself.
The Rights war against empathy is simple, as it is nefarious; if they manage to completely convince their base that empathy for people other than themselves is bad, they’ll have a population that won’t care whether or not the policies they vote for will hurt people, not just outside of the country but even other US citizens who don’t have the political opinions they like.
This type of tribalism and aggression is far from new, and we can see this just from how certain right-leaning people hate others from blue cities and states like California. It’s a byproduct of the country’s individualism and the growing detestation for globalization within the Republican Party. Unchecked, this type of thinking will no doubt be dangerous not just for the survival of the democratic party but ultimately for anyone who doesn’t follow exactly what Republicans and conservatives think, especially considering this belief is becoming less fringe within the party as the months go by.
