This idea has been floating around my mind for a long time: what is the realdifference between Republicans and Democrats? I am not referring to the differences at the national level as in between a Republican Senator and a Democratic Senator. Regrettably, there are more than a few times when the actual difference is hard to distinguish. I am referring to the difference at the constituent level – what makes a Democratic voter different from a Republican voter? The idea of an empathy gap between the two parties has been gelling in my mind for a long time. Below is my explanation of why I think this is the real, fundamental difference between Republican and Democratic voters.
Webster’s online dictionary defines empathy as:
the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner; also : the capacity for empathy
Several weeks ago, the Fox All-Stars had a discussion about the winter fuel price increase situation. Fred Barnes responded to the question with something to the effect of “I don’t see it.” Notice the use of the first person pronoun, I. Of course Barnes doesn’t see it; he has a lot of money. A 50% increase in heating costs won’t materially impact his income. Notice how there was no statement about the price increase on other people; not one word. Barnes described the scenario entirely from the first person perspective.
Last week, the Republican controlled house voted to cut Medicaid and Medicare spending. There was an article on RedState.com about the voting blocks for this proposal. A majority of Republicans voted for it and a majority of Democrats voted against it. The RedState author was chastising the Democrats because although we have been arguing for fiscal sanity for the last 5 years we were against this specific spending cut. There was no discussion in the RedState article about how this cut would affect people. There was no mention that many people depend on these programs as their sole source of healthcare. None. What mattered was the cut not it’s overall effect.
Let’s look at two professions. The right loves to rail against the national teacher’s union. But let’s think about what’s involved with teaching. Teaching is not about money. Teachers are not well paid; they could probably make a whole lot more money if they went into the private sector. There’s another attraction – the attraction of helping somebody learn. According to the American Psychiatric Association, over 90% of therapists are liberal. Why? The answer is therapists are about helping people overcome a problem. Both of these professions require empathy – the ability to see and feel things from someone else’s perspective – to be good at your job. The emotional fulfillment is just as important as the monetary compensation.
I have never heard a Republican talk about another person’s perspective. I have heard a tremendous amount of first person perspective. The debates about gay marriage presents this issue in all its complexity. The right’s argument is “Gay marriage threatens my way of life.” No one on the right has ever thought about what it would be like to be discriminated against because of who you are. No one on the right has ever thought “what would it be like…” No one on the right has ever sat down with a person who was discriminated against and asked them “what’s it like…”
Here is the bottom line: The right can’t see someone anything from someone else’s perspective.