First, as a fellow writer on Medium and for this publication, thanks for taking the time to write this. I know it DOES take time and it's usually not rewarded, so thanks.
Okay, to the gist of the article. Absolutely there is an empathy crisis in the U.S. This has been my perspective since the 1990s when, living as a college grad with little money in LA, I felt saddened by just how Dickensian that city was/is, with people in cars that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars regularly sitting at traffic lights next to people who can barely afford something to eat and can only dream of shelter for that particular night.
The problem is, based on their behavior over the neoliberal era, neither party has any actual interest in pushing through policies that are empathetic. I recall reading Obama's first book in 2006 and being VERY excited because he spoke so much about the importance of empathy.
I don't know the man personally, but watching his performance as president, where he increased the disgusting War on Terror policies such as drone strikes that kill innocents and terrorize ALL who live in regions where drone attacks happen, where he refused to toss ANY of the culprits behind the housing crisis and financial crash into jail all while allowing the legal system to crack down on the people who were duped into buying those lousy policies, often pushing families onto the streets, well ... those weren't empathetic policies. To me, the key feature of empathy is being able to walk in another's shoes even if they are nothing like you.
What I see in the US is people are good at empathizing with those in their tribe, but they have become increasingly adept at projecting their shadows onto members of other tribes; the exact opposite of empathy.
We've seen how the Democratic Party and many of its staunchest supporters have increasingly become like their Republican counterparts of yesteryear, demonizing the other side; and yes, this behavior is coming from the Republicans and their staunchest supporters, too.
Last, as for Medicare for All. As a guy who has benefitted from living in Japan since 2004, well, I've long thought the US needs universal health care but the pandemic has changed my perspective. That seems crazy, right? But here me out. You're health care system has MAJOR corruption issues between Big Pharma and the governmental regulatory agencies who are supposed to be protecting the public health. Unfortunately, because the pandemic got politicized and Team Blue sided up with Dr. Fauci, most people who lean that way have been unwilling to really look at how Fauci has played a major role in making your country sicker while making himself, his cohorts and Big Pharma much richer. Until those corruption issues are handled, from my perspective, the very worst thing that could happen for public health would be universal health care. It might seem a good idea and, yes, there might be some immediate savings, but don't count on it. Fauci has had numerous opportunities to create policies that would make your health care cheaper and he's always promoted making it more expensive to benefit Big Pharma and the many players in his orbit. It's sad, but true. I pray that this issue gets looked at and resolved, but it's not going to happen unless more folks who are on Team Blue (or lean that way) start looking at people they've respected like Fauci with honesty.
