3 ms·

I'm not here to pile on, I just want to understand why this point of view is so common. I have always felt incredibly blessed by my circumstances (straight whit

• cultus 7y ago
  Some people are essentially unable to experience empathy, only sympathy. This also seems to co-occur with lack of self-awareness. Thus, they cannot "put themselves in the shoes" of another person experiencing different challenges than themselves. For example, think of every Republican who is anti-gay until their kid comes out (Cheney), misogynistic except when it comes to their daughter, or opposes abortion until they need one, etc.
  • wpietri 7y ago
    And I should point out that in the short term it's often personally advantageous to suppress one's empathy and self awareness. Narcissists are fucking exhausting, but they often get what they want. And what quite a lot of people want is a sense of power.
• ecmascript 7y ago
  > Would you really rather be some other gender and/or race? Do you truly believe it would make life easier? Yes, I do believe so. I've had jobs where women earned more just because of their gender. They were inexperienced as fuck, needed help with basic tasks and still got paid more. Women can get an IT-job because they are women, men can't.
• downerending 7y ago
  Not easier, but probably not harder either. Everyone suffers.