“If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” —Ebenezer Scrooge.
Many Republicans have Empathy Deficit Disorder (EDD). As you point out, it's lethal — but not to the Republican. A less clinical description: R's are assholes. (R) doesn't stand for Republican, it stands for Rectal.
That said: many Dems are not on board with cost-saving, life-saving M4A. Pure political expediency. And lest we forget, the Dem administration failed to extend the life-saving income and health coverage of 2021-22. Millions of families lost coverage.
Thanks for the Scrooge quote. It is worth repeating. I will be adding EDD to columns. Many politicians are tainted by the money the health care, insurance and drug industry provide for campaigns - in 2020 it was about $600M. Thanks again for EDD.
In my opinion, EDD really should be a clinical diagnosis. As you may know, actual studies have shown that, on average, people who have been exposed to (say) a semester's worth or year's worth of economics classes or business classes test lower on standard measurements of empathy than they did beforehand.
Is the effect reversible? Likely yes, but I have not studied the literature. My bad.
This EDD effect has major public policy implications. Why? Because economics and business majors often end up in society's decision-making / leadership roles.
When you think about it, that's scary: Western society is geared to spawn and perpetuate an elite leadership caste of...monsters -- people lacking the normal amount of empathy. Psychopaths. Sociopaths. EDD.
What's the ultimate result? That's easy: just look around you.
You may be interested in retired Prof. Bob Altemeyer’s research on authoritarians that includes description of a power mad personality. Altemeyer has co-authored with John Dean of Watergate fame.
Haidt writes in The Righteous Mind, "Everyone cares about fairness, but there are two major kinds. On the left, fairness often implies equality, but on the right it means proportionality—people should be rewarded in proportion to what they contribute, even if that guarantees unequal outcomes.” Taken to its extreme you have, well, you know, “EDD.”
You mention fairness. My main website is FairNow.org. Its tagline: "Fairness. Justice. Spread it around." (Note: haven't updated the site in years.)
A national org, The Fairness Project, does great work getting progressive policies onto the ballot in various states and locales that allow such initiatives (thefairnessproject.org).
Through-the-looking-glass definitions of fairness, labelled left and right, bring to mind contrasting versions of "freedom." Same basic idea. Like Alan U., I advocate for universal healthcare / Medicare for All -- a textbook case of fairness and freedom seen from different perspectives. I'm "OCD for M4A," so don't get me started! :-)
Also, you mention Moral Foundations Theory. Years ago I registered the domain moraleconomics.com but still have not gotten around to making a site. Maybe it's time.
“If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” —Ebenezer Scrooge.
Many Republicans have Empathy Deficit Disorder (EDD). As you point out, it's lethal — but not to the Republican. A less clinical description: R's are assholes. (R) doesn't stand for Republican, it stands for Rectal.
That said: many Dems are not on board with cost-saving, life-saving M4A. Pure political expediency. And lest we forget, the Dem administration failed to extend the life-saving income and health coverage of 2021-22. Millions of families lost coverage.
Thanks for the Scrooge quote. It is worth repeating. I will be adding EDD to columns. Many politicians are tainted by the money the health care, insurance and drug industry provide for campaigns - in 2020 it was about $600M. Thanks again for EDD.
In my opinion, EDD really should be a clinical diagnosis. As you may know, actual studies have shown that, on average, people who have been exposed to (say) a semester's worth or year's worth of economics classes or business classes test lower on standard measurements of empathy than they did beforehand.
Is the effect reversible? Likely yes, but I have not studied the literature. My bad.
This EDD effect has major public policy implications. Why? Because economics and business majors often end up in society's decision-making / leadership roles.
When you think about it, that's scary: Western society is geared to spawn and perpetuate an elite leadership caste of...monsters -- people lacking the normal amount of empathy. Psychopaths. Sociopaths. EDD.
What's the ultimate result? That's easy: just look around you.
You may be interested in retired Prof. Bob Altemeyer’s research on authoritarians that includes description of a power mad personality. Altemeyer has co-authored with John Dean of Watergate fame.
https://theauthoritarians.org/
And then there’s Moral Foundations Theory that was primarily developed by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and Jesse Graham.
https://moral foundations.org
Haidt writes in The Righteous Mind, "Everyone cares about fairness, but there are two major kinds. On the left, fairness often implies equality, but on the right it means proportionality—people should be rewarded in proportion to what they contribute, even if that guarantees unequal outcomes.” Taken to its extreme you have, well, you know, “EDD.”
http://righteousmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ch07.RighteousMind.final_.pdf
I will look up these references. Many thanks.
You mention fairness. My main website is FairNow.org. Its tagline: "Fairness. Justice. Spread it around." (Note: haven't updated the site in years.)
A national org, The Fairness Project, does great work getting progressive policies onto the ballot in various states and locales that allow such initiatives (thefairnessproject.org).
Through-the-looking-glass definitions of fairness, labelled left and right, bring to mind contrasting versions of "freedom." Same basic idea. Like Alan U., I advocate for universal healthcare / Medicare for All -- a textbook case of fairness and freedom seen from different perspectives. I'm "OCD for M4A," so don't get me started! :-)
https://medium.com/@idember/9-freedoms-of-healthcare-justice-5077bdbff9f2
https://medium.com/@idember/universal-healthcare-the-surprising-conservative-case-656d23617a3a
https://businessfreedom1.weebly.com, also at businessfreedom.us
Also, you mention Moral Foundations Theory. Years ago I registered the domain moraleconomics.com but still have not gotten around to making a site. Maybe it's time.