The real issue behind so many of the world's problems...

[Reeve]

To expand on the theme of historical political divisiveness at least in the US, here's a great infographic from Randall Munroe: http://xkcd.com/1127/large/

[Felya]

If this is how it's always been, then why does it seem that (at least in the US) our political system is paralyzed by partisanship? I really can't remember a time when things have been like this in our history.

Maybe it is because people paint history with a kinder brush, but it seems like politicians always pulled together for the sake of the common good when the country was in need. You can look at the great depression, the world wars -- how united people can be in the face of difficult times. Yet now, people refuse to do ANYTHING because they don't want to be seen as capitulating to the "other side".

As far as what you are saying about politics, the way it seems has a lot to do with change of filibuster from trying to relate your point, into a procedural vote. It wouldn't seem like it's in gridlock, if filibusters means debate and not simply a procedural vote.

You also have to consider that the previous president's party, had 6 of his 8 years with a full control of every branch of federal government. In the last 12 years or so, we had 6 years of little fighting, because all was controlled by one party to contrast with the next 6 years of split majorities. Before that, we spent billions on getting Clinton impeached for lying in court about him being a slut and even had Hillarycare, much like Obamacare now.

[Reeve]

Oooh, that's an excellent point. Like how we responded to 9/11 vs the ongoing wars overseas. Something acute really captures our attention and makes us react, but long term issues we have an issue with. So perhaps attention span instead of empathy.

It's like anything. If it's pretty quick, you can get excited about it and revved up, but unless it touches your day to day life, you end up having to spend most of your time thinking about other things simply by the necessities of life. I can't think about my grandmother's death all day every day because I have to get work done. So while it might hurt for a few days while it's fresh, after a while the necessities of ongoing life overtake the importance of the fact that your grandmother is no longer around. You may occasionally still think, "I miss her" just like you might occasionally think, "Man, it sucks we're still bombing people in Afghanistan," but you become incapable of expending significant ongoing thought on it, unless it's a central part of your life. And no one can make every issue a central part of their life.

[Azrile]

So for a while now I've seen people's ability and willingness to empathize with their fellow man take a drastic downturn. From so many issues from war, marriage equality, social spending, etc. there is a shocking lack of empathy in the political discourse.

For example -- Here in the US, we frequently talk about how horrible (which is it) that thousands of servicemen have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet it's almost never mentioned that orders of magnitude more civilians of those countries have died as well. For some reason, the US public can empathize with one of their own, but seems to be complete unable to grasp the concept that innocent people over there have died as well. These people are wives, husbands, parents, children...and yet it doesn't even cross their minds.

On the social issues, both sides seem to be completely unable to look past their own issues to try to sympathize why someone might feel the way they do. I could give examples but I fear that would be encouraging a derailing of this thread for people to debate their favorite hot topics.

So why is this the case? What has changed that has caused people to lose their empathy? Has it always been this way and it just seems more blatant? Is this something that is a natural progression of society? Does it need to change?

Am I on to something or am I totally off course?

What are your thoughts?

I describe it as ´high school football mentality´´... People get this mentality that no matter what, their team is the good one. There is no deep thinking, there are no morals.. you just cheer for your local high school team no matter what. The same is true in most of politics, throughout the world. So many people just automatically agree with whatever their side is doing, no matter what. If you are a Republican, Obama has done nothing good and is the cause of all evils.. if you are a democrat, everythign is the fault of the Republican House.

It is the truth, the average person is not capable of thinking past the initial ´this is my HS football team´... If you are from the USA, and you say anything bad about the USA, then you are automatically unpatriotic and your opinions don´t count. God forbid you speak out against the Patriot Act...

[Felya]

Bush's slogan while running for first term was 'Uniter, not a divider', because of how partisan politics already were.

[Powerogue]

The way the world has been better united with things like the internet is a step in the right direction, but we're certainly not done.

One of the challenges of empathy is that there's just so many humans on earth now. To feel empathy for every miserable person on the earth equally to your own close family would drive a person mad.

[Kickbuttmario]

It's because people are stupid and intolerant fools that won't stop judging and either read a book or look at the world in a bigger perspective.

That's it. You can blame tv, the internet, the video games, the schools, it don't matter. Once a man has suffered in his life or has pitied someone who is far far below them and can feel their pain, then they should be able to change.

[Deleted]

It's because people are making decisions without actually meeting those directly affected by those decisions. It's very easy to dismiss people you have never met. Just look at those Senators that have done an about-face on same-sex marriage once one of their children has been directly affected as an example.

Pretty much what he says.

[hakujinbakasama]

As a non-expert, I can only add my opinion or observations on the issue.

It is my opinion that the lack of American "care" as it were is due to the digestion of modern media. Jim Sterling did a video not to long ago on the Escapist and I do support half of the claim he was making. When Americans, or most humans, see deplorable acts of real violence, we react in a negative way. It's only a small percentage of the population who actually enjoys or gets off on seeing real violence.

That being said, if you take a look at the populace reaction to the War in Vietnam, you will see a stark contrast to the mood of the people to that of the now during Iraq and Afghanistan. The news outlets and media went to great lengths to show the violence and death surrounding Vietnam. Sure, they talked about the Nick Berg beheading, but they refrained from showing much of it. I guess you could say that there was a more liberal agenda in the media during Vietnam which worked to sway the public into not supporting the war. By comparison, Fox news has done a hell of a job squashing any "nay-sayers" when it comes to the current Global issues.

I know this all comes across as another bash fest on the media and entertainment industry but it isn't so confined. The people are still responsible to a degree, and it is sad how apathetic they have become. But at the same time, we don't really have a "news" system anymore fighting the "good fight" trying to "expose" the people to the reality of the world or events.