- cross-posted to:
- lemmybewholesome@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- lemmybewholesome@lemmy.world
I usually avoid politics on this community but thought this article kinda fit
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It’s never too late to develop the valuable human skill of “empathy.”
Although most of us learn it at an early age.
is it still empathy if they only changed their stance on it when it affected their own family? IDK. but i guess it’s a bigger step than my own parents took, so I’ll give them that.
‘no empathy’ people are wrong about cons. They have empathy but it is selectively turned off for certain groups because they have been conditioned to be afraid or disgusted by them. This isn’t an excuse but it is normal behavior - a lot of lefties don’t give a damn about the wellbeing of cops either. It’s not the same thing but it IS the same mechanism. Fear and hate stops people from feeling empathy. It’s human psychology and the cornerstone of all right-wing rhetoric.
I believe that by learning to undermine that kind of hateful rhetoric we can kill the soul of the anti-trans movement.
Mmmm, it’s certainly not a monolithic group but I have a couple friends who are now hated by their parents for their queerness
“I don’t care about other people’s rights until it personally affects me”
I mean, I get that, and the amount of rage I feel about the fact that Republicans never have any empathy for anyone they don’t know is probably going to give me an ulcer, but this is good news. People changing their minds in response to new information is a positive thing, and we should encourage it. There are plenty of LGBTQ+ people whose families don’t change their minds. That’s how we end up with kids committing suicide or living on the streets. My extended family would never change their minds, and it’s led to me cutting them off, and my cousin will never come out because I’m pretty sure his dad would kill him, or at least do his level best to beat him to death.
Anyway, I didn’t mean for that to get that dark, but that’s the reality for a lot of us. I’m going to welcome anyone trying to be better with open arms.
