Don’t Waste Your Empathy
Leopards are feasting on faces right now. Social media is rife with posts about Trump supporters who have found themselves hoisted by their own petards. Some go so far as to post pleas directly to their clay idol to have him undo the specific harm that they have been caused. “Please hire my wife back!” “Please don’t deport my son-in-law!” “Save my farm!” “Don’t take Grandma’s social security and Medicaid! (Because then I’ll have to take up the slack and be responsible for her.)” They often characterize whatever has happened to them as a mistake of some kind, an unintended consequence of the administration’s sweep.
There is, likewise, a discourse that anti-Dumpster* people should welcome these people into the fold. The problem is—and I’m going to be writing in broad generalizations, so of course there are exceptions, but for the most part, this is what I’ve witnessed—these people don’t want to be part of our group. They aren’t ready to foreswear their beliefs or that idol at whose feet they worship. They are only asking for a personal boon, not for a broader stop to the insanity.
These are people who voted to hurt others. And are still quite happy with the idea of others being harmed. They’re just upset that they became collateral damage in their own war.
Some have even classified empathy as a “sin,” which goes directly against, oh, that Jesus guy they all proclaim to love and follow (and want to impose on others).
So, no, I don’t welcome them. Let them suffer the consequences with the rest of us. Let them taste their own medicine. Those on “our” side, who did not vote for this and have actively protested it all along, we’re the ones who should garner sympathy. We’re the ones having to live with something we fought against. And we’ll continue to fight.
If leopard-maimed individuals show real regret and understanding—if they’ve truly changed their thinking and their hearts—then they are welcome. But I’ve mostly seen people bemoaning their personal circumstances, wishing to be exempted from the pain. Those people are not worthy of sympathy, empathy, or compassion. They’re just as likely and ready to sic leopards on you the moment they have another opportunity.
* I refuse to use the name.