Are Heartless People Simply Born That Way?

[marmar]

from Too Much: A Commentary on Excess and Inequality:


Are Heartless People Simply Born That Way?
November 2, 2013

People who cut food stamps — and gut child labor laws — most all had empathy when they came into the world. So what squeezed the empathy out? Analysts are pointing to inequality.

By Sam Pizzigati


Scrooge has come early this year. We’re kicking our Tiny Tims. This holiday season, kids in America’s poorest families are going to have less to eat.

November 1 brought $5 billion in new cuts to the nation’s food stamp program, now officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

Poor families will lose on average 7 percent of their food aid, calculates the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. A mother with two kids will lose $319 over the rest of the current federal fiscal year. The cuts could cost some families a week’s worth of meals a month, says the chief at America’s largest food bank.

More cuts are looming. A U.S. House of Representatives majority is demanding an additional $39 billion in “savings” over the next decade. Ohio and a host of other states, in the meantime, are moving to limit food stamp eligibility. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://toomuchonline.org/are-heartless-people-simply-born-that-way/#sthash.s8VTsOT1.dpuf

[Katashi_itto]

1. We have glorified sociopaths. Instead of lining them up against walls we've elected them

to positions of power. Giving them the opportunity to murder or starve thousands. What does that really say about our society? Can a society become deranged?

[cer7711]

8. It Says Our Society Is Sick

Right you are, Katashi.

[Fumesucker]

10. There are copious examples from history to show that cultures can indeed become deranged

Godwin forbids me from mentioning the most notorious example but there are plenty of others.

[magical thyme]

24. Kim Il whazisface comes to mind.

You're right. Examples abound without going "there."

[uponit7771]

55. Does Pol Pot fall under Goodwin law?

[uponit7771]

53. +1

[laundry_queen]

2. Sort of

you are born with a predisposition to have lack of empathy, but your environment growing up is going to trigger the expression of the gene.

Also...4% of people are sociopaths. Our society, instead of shunning them for their lack of empathy, has put them in positions of power and influence instead. Then you have people who are predispositioned to be followers....Milgram experiment and all that....and you have the pickle we are in right now.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

20. add in huge numbers of people, our needs managed by huge beurocracies

Whether public (gov't and mega-churches) or private (businesses and corporations of all kinds), the net effect of over stretched systems is depersonalization. Loss of humanism. Overwhelm-ment.

Part of the appeal of psychpaths is their high emotion (basically, they only have one: anger), confidence or charm and simplification. They promise vindication to other angry, frightened, confused people. They have no limits on lying.

They look heroic because they are loud and bullish on their lies, and we are more and more dysfunctional as overcrowding, isolation and over stressed survival needs eclipse emotional and social skills. We lose our abilities to detect manipulations. The Recovery movement is one of many social responses to (re)learn emotional skills.

That is what liberals are fighting and why we are so passionate about it. High "Emotional Intelligence"--ability to empathize.

[brer cat]

3. This stood out to me:

"Defenders of inequality typically do their musings at a high, fact-free level of abstraction."

and

"These rich don’t see the poor. They stereotype them — as lazy and unworthy."

It is a constant frustration to me that we cannot get the rich and their enablers to SEE the poor and what they are doing to them. Children are not born lazy or unworthy. But if they are not fed, they are likely to struggle in school making it difficult if not impossible to escape the poverty of their birth.

[Trillo]

4. No. People are carefully trained to be heartless. NT

[xchrom]

5. du rec.

[CoffeeCat]

6. I was raised by a Republican psychopath...

...and I know my experience is anecdotal, but I believe that many of our societal ills can be traced back to ho we treat children.

One in four girls is sexually abused before the age of 18; one in seven boys is sexually abused before the age of 18. Most people think that it is ok to hit children. Many children, who aren't sexually abused are neglected or emotionally abused, and statistics on this kind of abuse isn't documented because the numbers are so difficult to assess.

I think our society treats children like chattel. And it happens at all socioeconomic levels. I live in the suburbs, and there are lots of nice families, but there is also a great deal of dysfunction, alcoholism, parents who are unfit.

I was abused as a child and I can't tell you how many times I've shared my story--only to have the other person share their story right back. These are people with great jobs, living in the suburbs, with everything looking pretty on the outside.

My own experience with my psychopathic Republican father obviously colors my world view. We looked like the perfect family. We were ordered to be the perfect family. Inside, it was a house of horrors. But the lawn was manicured and we were all dressed in designer clothes and in the pews on Sunday, so according to my father, all was right with the world. He would make fun of the homeless, joke around and say, "Hey do you want to take a drive in my Porsche and laugh at how the other 90 percent lives?" He called people who weren't rich "down and outers". He once yelled at our state senator for forcing him to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act, which cost him extra money. Never mind that he was a millionaire. Never mind that his wife was disabled. We were at an engagement party, and my father said, "Hey, I think I hear a homeless person scratching at the window. Why don't you go throw out a plate of food!" Oh the laughs that got from him! He knew I was sympathetic to the homeless and other causes, and he took plenty of opportunities to dig in the knife.

If anyone thinks this is rare, I'm sorry to tell you that it is not. All of his friends were like this. They all listened to Rush. They hated weakness and people who were poor--were dirtbags to them. They are also racist as hell. My father would become nervous around non-white people. In his 30 years with his business he hired one African American girl but told me that she didn't work out because "Well, you know why it didn't work out." They're also sexist and mysogynistic. Women and children are their property--objects to be controlled. Oh yeah, my father was also a pedophile.

And things are only getting worse. People are more pathological than they've ever been. As the previous posters noted, we glorify sociopathic and psychopathic behavior. These types of people, including my father and his friends, are all very successful, influential people. Their children are all horrendously messed up. I'm the only one in my family who got therapy. My siblings, who are in denial--live lives with eating disorders, alcoholism, suicide attempts, marrying violent abusers, etc. But my siblings all had kids...and the cycle continues. One dysfunctional parent can create dozens of hurting people. I think this is what has happened.

We glorify pathology, bullying and dysfunctional adult behavior today. Our politicians and most CEOs are corrupt. And they have power. This is a dog whistle to other abusers out there--that your warped mindset is ok. In fact, it's encouraged. We are a sick society. I've lived a tiny slice of it. I've been in the support groups for families like this. The damage is stunning. Children of attorneys, pastors, dentists, insurance salesmen, coaches...you name it. They were forced to remain silent and endure hell, but everything on the outside appeared just peachy. But, like me, they were too broken to play the game anymore. They end up being the family scapegoats because they just couldn't toe the line anymore.

Scapegoats are the most honest children in the family. While everyone else is pretending that all is well--they are the ones "acting out" or doing drugs/alcohol to numb the pain that no one else will even acknowledge. The family points the finger at them. The abusers happily blame them, in order to keep their secrets safe. So, people like us end up in support groups, rehab or therapy. And we find other scapegoats like ourselves and we learn that we aren't crazy or bad. We're sensitive, smart and strong for escaping the crazy world of abusive psychopaths.

I talk about this because I think more people need to talk about this. Because this is what is happening in our country. It's not rare. My exact situation may not be common, but abusive household led by these sick Republicans who believe that the poor are punchlines and that women are chattel--are not uncommon. It's epidemic. And people listening to Beck, Hannity and Limbaugh reinforce this pathology. Every day. They're bullies. They're mean. They disparage women. They support Republicans policies that punish the poor, the non-wealthy and the working poor.

Talk radio, in my opinion, has led to greater mental illness because it placates these psychopaths into thinking that their abuse and their cruelty is acceptable, even noble.

Please know that if you endured family members like this--you are not alone. Please also know that talk radio and political corruption and cruel political policies are NOT harmless. They hurt the victims of those policies, but they also create a general downward pressure on morality and our basic sense of decency.

[Trillo]

13. Wow. Thank you for sharing your story.

[beerandjesus]

15. Incredible post

Thank you!

[bemildred]

16. Totally. Thank you for saying that. nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. Thank you. Glad you escaped. Too often the sins of the father

Too often the sins of the father visited on a son are propagated down the line as the abusive oppressive behavior is repeated. Fortunately women seem less prone to this kind of propagation, since they are too often on the receiving end both coming and going (from fathers and husbands), but even so some are responsible too.

In many nature versus nurture debates, there are arguments on both sides, and I think both mechanisms are operative. Lack of empathy is a feature of psychopaths, and as in many mental illnesses, there are degrees and also genetic factors; i.e. it runs in families.

[CoffeeCat]

47. So true, the cycle of abuse often continues...

...and I feel fortunate to have escaped. That is for sure.

When we're allowed to acknowledge the abuse and speak about it--it helps. We heal ourselves. We help others who have endured the same, to understand that they are not alone and that they were not at fault.

The cycle is perpetuated when we follow the demands of the abuser--and remain silent.

Penn State is a great example of that. Silence only helps the perpetrator to continue abusing. Victims suffer in silence and the numbers of victims can grow exponentially.

Going public, often stops the entire abuse machine--whether that abuse is happening in a family, in the hierarchy of a church or in a university football program.

[Jackpine Radical]

52. The three major products of severely abusive homes are

Antisocial personality types (mostly male)
Borderline Personality Disordered types (mostly female)
and therapists (either sex).

As far as psychopathy goes, we have an extensive literature on low-functioning psychopaths because they mostly end up in prison. The (in)famous "Psychopathy Test," the Hare Psychopathy Checklist (2nd Revision; PCL-R2) really only identifies the low-functioning types reliably, which is no surprise since it was developed mostly in Correctional settings.

We don't really have much scientific information about the high-functioning psychopaths, mostly because they are harder to study, and simply don't permit themselves to be studied.

Hare co-authored a book, "Snakes in Suits," about the high-functioning psychopaths in the corporate wuites, but I think he vastly underestimated the prevalence of psychopathy in those realms simply because he lacked both the instrumentation and the opportunity to properly identify them. After all, you can pretty much rate everyone in prison (the PCL-R can be done from records alone), but it's just not that easy to get access to the corporate boardrooms.

[adirondacker]

22. Thanks for sharing.

I feel fortunate that I had a caring, empathetic, and honest Mother to counter the cruelty, wickedness and deceit.

[CoffeeCat]

48. Yes, I am glad that you had a wonderful mother...

Usually the abuser has a co-conspiritor in the mother. She either enables him and excuses away his crimes--or the mother can also be an abuser, just like the father.

I am glad that you had a kind and caring mother to help you. If just one person in a child's life--lights the way--that can be enough to overcome an abuser.

[magical thyme]

27. "They end up being the family scapegoats because they just couldn't toe the line anymore."

That is so dead on, every bit of what you wrote. I am so sorry for what you endured. What we endured.

[leftyladyfrommo]

32. What wonderful insight.

I have been the family scapegoat all my life and I never thought of that way. That is very helpful. That you very much.

If you happen to be a family member that doesn't buy into the family line then you get to be the scapegoat for just about everything.

[CoffeeCat]

49. There's a great deal online about family scapegoats...

Google can take you to some interesting links.

The one thing that I read that really struck me is about scapegoats and how they are the most honest children in the family. Really, they are the least sick. However, they are attacked for their honesty and for their healthy attitudes. They are made to feel like the troublemakers of the family when they speak out or when they show any pain/emotion about how screwed up the family is.

The abusers demand silence, and when a scapegoat displays pain, which indicates a problem in the family--the abusers do a number on the scapegoat. They manipulate them into submission. They will attack them and pain them as the big problem in the family.

But the scapegoat still sees the dysfunction and senses that something is very, very wrong. But they know that if they speak out or be honest--that they will be attacked, blamed and hated on multiple fronts. So, they suffer. And they may try to drown their feelings with alcohol, drugs or other addictive behaviors. Then, the family engages in further finger pointing, "See. He is the problem. He is on drugs. We are not the problem. He is."

It's simply not true. The scapegoat is a bellweather. The honest child. They're courageous and amazing in my opinion.

[Ghost Dog]

28. Yep.

[Voice for Peace]

30. you are the dysfunctional offspring who is thinking clearly and breaking that cycle.

I totally relate to your story & the abusive egomaniacal relatives.
The cycle ends with me, with you.

[CoffeeCat]

50. Damn straight...

It is difficult to leave siblings behind in the mess, but each person has to unravel and come out of denial in their own time.

When I had my children, I knew that I was done. I was repelled at the thought of my parents being anywhere near my babies.

We should both be proud of stopping that powerful abuse cycle. My therapist has told me that so very few do recover and seek therapy. I went through a stretch where my siblings persecuted me and attacked me for speaking negatively about the abuse. They called me a liar, etc, even though they acknowledged much of the same dysfunction that I recalled. They just chose to be in denial about it. My therapist said that in his decades of work with abuse victims--he has NEVER experienced a situation where the abuse victim was able to convince the abuser or the siblings that life was better on the other side.

Defection is rare. It's so sad.

[whathehell]

34. Thanks so much for your story your insights, CoffeeCat..

You are correct: The "Mean factor" has definitely increased in the last couple of decades, and I think you're right in conflating it, at least in great part, with a country that has gone so far to the Right -- Even many of our so-called Democrats now look like Republicans compared to the Dems of the Post War Years up to the Nineteen Eighties.

As a Boomer, when I look at society today, I'm honestly shocked -- I'm not saying it was all hunky dory back in those years, and surely some of that relative "innocence" going on back then reflects a lack of coverage and reporting, but DAMN, in my day, the country as a whole was much more liberal and seemed FAR less plagued by some of our current social problems -- Teen suicide, Random Mass Shootings, etc....I know there's other societal developments which no doubt share some blame, but both houses of congress back were controlled by Democrats and even NIXON looked like a liberal compared to someone like Dubya, not to mention the current crop of Extremists like Cruz, Paul and Bachmann, to name a few.

I'm SO sorry for the abuse you and your siblings endured. The testament to your victory over it is your courage to NOT deny the* problems and seek help. Although I'm sure it was painful, it's clear that you're way ahead, in terms of psychological health, than the rest of your unfortunate, damaged family.:hug

* I'm quite familiar with the "scapegoat syndrome" you describe. The scapegoat is sometimes also called "The identified patient". They are the ones in the family, who, for some reason, usually unconscious, are chosen to "bear" the problems of the whole dysfunctional family, and frequently "get sick", in some way, often psychologically. One thing I was told about the syndrome is this -- When the "sick" person gets well, the formerly "well" people get sick. because those people were only able to "function" without visible sickness because people like YOU, in this case, were "sick" FOR them. I've seen it play out, and I must admit, It can feel a bit gratifying.

[grasswire]

35. the "identified patient"...

...is part of the "family systems" model of understanding family dynamics. Anyone could learn more by googling "family systems identified patient". It's really enlightening.

[whathehell]

59. Yes. Thanks for the link. n/t

[ReRe]

37. Your reply should be an OP itself...

I was raised in that kind of world as a child. And to double down, he was my step-father. Only thing different was he made life miserable for the women/females of the family. Mom, sister and myself. I never let on like anything was wrong at home because I was so embarrassed by it all. My salvation was the library, school, Mother and Grandmother. Your story sounds like it could have come straight out of People of the Lie by M Richard Peck. Did you ever read it?

[CoffeeCat]

44. I started reading that book...

...when I was in therapy for ten years, attempting to overcome the damage. I read a great deal, in an effort to understand family dysfunction/dynamics, abusers, sexual abuse and also psychopaths/sociopaths/narcissists.

I read about People of the Lie online. I read many of the Amazon reviews and other commentary about that book. Just the commentary and the few passages from the book were too triggering for me. It was too close to home for me. Again, at the time I was in the throes of therapy and my feelings were really raw. I could probably handle that book now, but reading it is like re-living it all over again.

And the bastard never owned up to what he did. Never admitted anything. After not speaking to him for a decade, I confronted him several months ago. I unexpectedly showed up, and told him that I needed to understand what happened to me and why. I was very civil. He was so full of denial. Combine that with his old age, and it was obvious that I would never get an apology, much less any sort of acknowledgment that our family was in the slightest bit dysfunctional.

Reading that would be a reminder that he sort of won. He still enjoys life, his family and he's managed to paint me as the family lunatic. He definitely won the PR war, as most psychopaths do.

I don't think most people realize how common this is. There's a lot of messed up people out there.

Did you read People of the Lie? If so, what did you think?

I'm so sorry about what happened to you, as well. Mysogyny is a common theme with these types for sure. I am glad that you had the escapes that you did, and that your mother and grandmother were positive figures for you. You deserve that.

[ReRe]

66. What I got out of that book was this:

Several case studies of the different kinds of psychopaths that roam the landscape of life. Since Peck was a Catholic and a psychologist simultaneously, he seen the evil that psychopathy was. I think the Catholic Church is at the bottom of the current mental illness of our society, as they would not go along with calling psychopathology what it is, i.e. evil.

Everyone, to a person, runs into one and oftentimes many of these evil psychopath SOBs. What Peck does is teach us how to recognize these individuals when we run into them. The only defense against them is to remove yourself from their midst. Adults might be able to do that, but children are trapped to at least 18 years of their life with their father and/or mother, who one or the other or both may be a psychopath.

Then when that child finally grows up, he/she has to somehow heal the damage that was inflicted upon him all those years. Most times, life just keeps trundling on down the line, so one is left dealing with that damage as they begin their families or go to college or start their careers. That any of them survive is a miracle.

Your dad didn't "win". If anyone did win in your family, it was YOU. As you know the TRUTH, you don't live the lie anymore. You don't act the part anymore. Sounds like your siblings are still under his spell or are now perpetrating their own style of psychopathology upon their own families. Apologize? Psychopaths never apologize, because they don't think they have done or are doing anything wrong.

[AikidoSoul]

39. What a beautiful, insightful post. Thank you

I relate to it in many significant ways.

My father was very violent to me in many ways... and so was my mother. Both of them beat and humiliated me regularly.

My father was a career Naval officer, jet pilot and joyboy with a taste for very young girls. I will never forget how he sexualized me as a very young child and how he tortured my mother with countless affairs. He was so insensitive, that he actually smiled when he bragged to me, his own daughter, how he was able to have sex with very young girls in other countries.

After a twenty year career he went to work for two defense contractors, and then in his final years worked for the DOD.

What maybe saved me was that he spent so much time in other countries during the WWII years. I ran away from home several times when living in DC at ages 13 and 14 where he worked at the Pentagon as a naval officer. The fifth time I ran away I was put into a convent -- which I loved.

Then he was assigned to a post in Europe as part of a NATO project to build the Sidewinder guided missile. I went to a class A school in Switzerland, and a super class A boarding school in Germany... probably all paid by U.S. tax dollars. The schools and the convent saved my life.

But barely.... I still suffer pain that plagues my soul that will probably be with me until the day I die. But I am a total, bleeding heart liberal.... probably because I understand, and empathize with suffering and pain.

But I still do not understand how and why some men feel no compassion for the pain they cause to the most vulnerable. I think my father enjoyed causing pain. I mean, I think it made him feel some kind of perverted version of male power.

I can still see his eyes in my mind when he did what he did.

[CoffeeCat]

45. I am so sorry about what you endured...

...and I relate to your childhood and your story as well. I think it helps to understand that we are not alone. When we hear the common themes behind abusers--we can fully understand that it was THEM and not US. Because, when you're a child--you simply can't blame your abusers. They are responsible for your well being, your safety and even your food and clothing.

To acknowledge that you are helpless and dependent upon people who have no regard for your humanity--is too traumatic. So, we blame ourselves. We adjust by feeling guilty or feeling bad. Because blaming yourself is so much easier than understanding that a dangerous person is in charge of your upbringing.

I don't think we can hear "It wasn't your fault" too many times. We were innocent children. We were simply caught in the crossfire of their dysfunction.

My father also had a penchant for young girls--teenagers. I don't know your father, but it sounds like your father and my father were both psychopaths. Young girls are easily controlled and part of their fantasy. Society does a terrific job of objectifying young women, and sexualizing them--sending out a message to predators like this, that their sickness is just fine, even wanted by these young teenagers and children. Don't even get me started about the Disney Channel, and all of their shows that feature sexualized teenaged girls who are smarter than all of the adults in the room. Yuck.

I am glad that you were sent away to private schools and the convent. To be able to heal a bit and get away from the trauma, was obviously very beneficial to you. Plus, that experience showed you how "normal" people behave and gave you other adult role models from which to learn. Very healing when you are that young.

And I don't think the pain goes away. However, we can come to terms with why it is there and take care of ourselves. The children that we were will always be hurt, but we are adults and we can parent ourselves now. We can live amazing, peaceful lives--even with a painful past.

[stage left]

40. Thank you

For telling your truth.

[CoffeeCat]

46. Thank you for listening...

...and for validating the fact that silence only helps the perps.

I don't speak about this a lot, but I speak about when I feel like it. I could never do that as a child.

So...thank you so very much for helping me to feel more comfortable about acknowledging the abuse and speaking out about it when I want to.

[stage left]

60. The truth helps us all

[Broken_Hero]

62. ...

[Skittles]

63. worthy of its own thread, CoffeeCat

yes INDEED

[deafskeptic]

64. I can relate.

Personally, I think the current Republican ideology appeals to both pyschopaths and narcissists. I come from a successful family and I'm certain there's at least one member of my family is a narcissist.

[AtheistCrusader]

7. That these cuts came from SNAP, and not some military budget item is simply criminal.

I can't even believe that this happened.

[raouldukelives]

9. I think they are educated that way. Living in a bubble with million dollar views.

The Wall St Journal and CNBC are about the closest they get to seeing what life is like on the ground for ordinary people. They are so insulated and pampered inside it, so wrongly informed by others living inside it, that it all seems natural to them. And its not cheap. Every investor helps pay for it.

[Myrina]

26. How does that explain poor, working class whites?

They wouldn't know the Wall Street Journal or CNBC if it bit them in the ass.

They define everyone who's "trying to take what's theirs" as 'black', 'lazy', 'moocher' 'welfare queen' because they're angry at the wrong enemy - they don't realize they're pawns in the uppers' game & being used to the hilt.

Heartlessness isn't just from the financially wealthy.

[grasswire]

36. those people are victims as well

Victims of heartless brainwashing and manipulation.

[stage left]

38. These are the Followers

the young underpaid, over worked former vet who sits in his beat up pickup trucks at lunchtime, listening to Rush on the radio. The old man who probably collects Social Security and has an anti-Obama sign made out of a torn piece of cardboard in the back window of his piece of crap Chevy truck. The old woman, probably also on Social Security, who rolls her eyes at the young girl in front of her getting her baby's formula with Wic. They remind me of the kids who used to hang with the Popular kids, always on the edge of the circle, always scorned, but hoping against hope that somehow some of the magic would trickle down to them. All they had to do was nod in agreement with everything these leaders said, follow their precepts, praise their every word and deed, join in when they bullied or laughed at others, others who were, in truth, just like them.

[libtodeath]

11. They are sociopaths

who only care about themselves.
Some probably are born that way and others get that way once they are lucky enough to live comfortably.

[reddread]

12. The gene for altruism

there is also the external forces that shape beliefs, so it can be hard to separate the intrinsic from the pressures of family and self interest.
I think it ahakes down to a 50/50 deal as so many things do in my opinion.
Being able to express a considered argument for beliefs and practices is crucial,
as is the opposite effort to silence or diminish social concerns.
When you look closely at how people respond to homelessness, there is plenty of common ground towards compassion,
once people understand the facts and discard the manufactured notions.
We all have a long way to go there, but with the PTB working so hard to make things much worse for us all,
we can be consoled that they have us on the fast track towards understanding what real poverty and indifference are
all about.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

14. Psychopaths are born that way, lacking empathy. There are degrees of lacking. Some is learned. nt

[Lizzie Poppet]

58. Exactly.

I'm a mild sociopath. I'm not violent, nor am I callously exploitive. I simply lack the capacity for an innate sense of (emotional) social bond, forming that connection only with people I have become very close to over time. Someone with a deeper level of sociopathy than my own might never be able to form such a bond.

This most emphatically does not mean I can't behave in a socialized manner. Quite the opposite, in fact: people like me learn to become very effective mimics of those behaviors that reflect the empathetic bonds that we are incapable, mostly, of forming. To fail to learn to mimic those behaviors is to live a miserable, ostracized life. Only the most profound cases are unaware that we are broken (and those poor folk truly are often a danger to others).

This was, not coincidentally, one of my biggest reasons (apart from his actual policies, of course) for opposing Mitt Romney. I recognized him for what he is, and perhaps my insider's perspective allowed me to realize that he has a deeper sociopathy than my own. Not necessarily enough to make him physically dangerous (etc...), but enough for me to have deep doubts about his suitability for the office.

Sometimes I do love the relative anonymity of online forums: around people who I encounter face-to-face, this is not a topic I am remotely comfortable talking about...

[Bernardo de La Paz]

61. Kudos. An informed mind overcomes ordinary limitations that others are hardly even aware of. nt

[cantbeserious]

18. Yes - They Are Called Sociopaths And Psychopaths

eom

[treestar]

19. Probably made by bad experience

Compassion was not extended to them in some instances, and so they feel everyone else should be treated the same.

[dawg]

21. Most people have empathy to other "people".

In other words, it all comes down to who they consider to be "people".

[L0oniX]

23. Narcissism is rampant and growing.

[NuclearDem]

25. Well, usually they become VP and get an artificial one.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

29. The more I am around crazy Republicans the more I think the theory is part true - that they

care/help on an individual level but are against it on a global level. The second part of this is that we
care on the global level and not on an individual level - which I disagree with.

I know lots of Republicans in nearby rural areas who go to the nth degree to help those people
they know who are in trouble/having hard times. My MIL spends days on end cooking for families anytime
someone in her community dies. But...thinks people are bilking the welfare/unemployment systems
and pretty much thinks they should be abolished. When I say, "people will be starving and dying..." She
quickly comes back to say "no one is really starving dying." It's a matter of a very narrow world view.

[JEB]

31. All I want for x-mas is my Tiny Tim football.

Now there is a marketing idea for the "Family values", sociopathic, GOP teabagging, "greed is good", government destroying patriot hypocrites.

[Tikki]

33. A few, most learn it. One thing I know, being religious doesn't automatically mean you become kind..

and doesn't mean you automatically become mean-hearted and neither does living a secular life
influence your general state of being.


Tikki

[woo me with science]

42. K&R

[gopiscrap]

51. no, I believe about 90% of behaviour is through conditioning.

[uponit7771]

54. The biggest conditioning being that's it's acceptable and there's no need for self reflection. ...

...Conservatives live in their own echo chamber

[gopiscrap]

56. yup

[Puzzledtraveller]

57. No.

[Uncle Joe]

65. I've always believed it was a combination of nature and nurture (or lack thereof) which

shapes all our perceptions.

Thanks for the thread, marmar.