According to this, people who have become well-off blame the poor more than having empathy for them.
A common perspective is that people look at those with student loans with derision because they complain about their lack of money, student loans, lack of a car while simultaneously going out and partying, drinking, and ‘enjoying life.’
This clear contradiction between speech and action makes it hard to have empathy.
I can empathize with people who have had a hard life, want to do better, lack the environment, knowledge or natural ability, have a strong sense of morals and purpose, are upset about their lack of progress despite trying, and so on. But I can’t empathize with people who actively make decisions counter to their proposed goals.
But I think the sad part is that people have different levels of natural ability. I used to be annoyed when other people found a certain class difficult. It seemed like they weren’t trying enough. In retrospect, people just have different levels of ability and it actually was hard for them.
I think of this guy in a Teflon factory documentary who came out with birth defects; he wanted more than anything to not pass on these problems to his children. He had an awareness of what was to be done and took action regarding it, exercising his own free will and choice.
So no, I don’t blame poor people who try for remaining poor. There are many circumstances they can’t control. These people I can understand and wish to help, though there is only so much I can do. I don’t blame those who revel in their poverty and don’t wish to change, though I do find it unfortunate. I like to believe that people have a choice as to what they do. I find it blameworthy to aspire to not be poor and then do the opposite. These people deserve mockery and derision.
More important, perhaps, is to be kind. To understand what sort of mental thought processes led someone to where they are. yet many people look poorly on receiving advice. and they won’t take advice and are insulted by statements. I always try to take into account what other people are saying, even if it’s from a child.
Something weird I noticed about mentorship and competence: I recently put up a mentoring form for an organization I’m in and it seems that judging by internet presence as competence, those who are progressing the least in their career are least likely self-report the need for mentoring but say that they can mentor other people.
Making choices
The ability to make choices by one’s own volition, also known as free will, is worth debating here. The notion pervades modern Western thought.
The notion of blame is predicated upon an object being able it change its responses given outside stimulus.
Many natural objects have predictable responses to stimuli. Water turns into ice at cold temperatures. Dogs bark. Humans withdraw their hand from hot stoves. Yet it is possible to train oneself to the point of self-immolation, so it is clear that there is some degree of choice, unlike the properties of water.
There is a common logical ladder that “nobody should support the invasion of Ukraine” because “the internet exists and anyone can go on the internet and find some counterexamples and facts.”
But when talking to people, many people have an instinctive bias that almost makes it impossible for someone to accept something in a specific moment.
Suppose someone was trained to kill people on sight. They are a killing machine. So they are set into the world and do what is natural.
- It seems illogical to blame them, to create some sense of morals, and to say that they could’ve done something else when their response was machine-like.
- It is logical to lock someone up so that this person does not kill other people.
- It is logical to continue to lock this person up if their release would mean the murder of more people.
- It is illogical to lock a killing machine up for a period of time with the hopes that time spent there would imply they no longer kill people, unless the changes of age do that naturally.
- It would then be not beneficial to keep this killing machine imprisoned at cost if they are no longer dangerous at an advanced age.
- Of course, all of these constraints also operate under the moral standards of the time wrt to things such as the death penalty.
To me, I think someone has to have a concept of something or a certain awareness of themself. Then they have to take action to move themselves in that direction. I think many people lack free will because they are going through life instinctively and not thinking about why things are the way that they are.