I appreciate this post for asking us to deepen our own personal empathy. I’m thankful too this post undermines the tired definition of ‘rationality’ used in economics, a definition limited largely to income and wealth and quantifiable metrics about material conditions. People care about that, sure, and much more.
I have serious doubts, however, about the role of empathy in creating systems change. The Aeon video about empathy suggest if we were all better at empathizing across distance and time, we would find the political will to solve big problems like climate change. The narrative proposes an empathy museum so we could build our capacity to empathize. Let’s call this the ‘hearts and minds’ view.
I find more convincing organizer and philosopher Saul Alinsky’s view of people, and of how change happens. He says people are fundamentally self-interested. When they see their self interest clearly, they will act, and not before. Let’s call this the ‘self-interest’ view. Here is one of my favorite takes on this idea from 2016.
This view is informed by Marxism which, as I understand it, holds that the fundamental conflict between classes is irreconcilable. No amount of empathy can bridge that gap. So in politics, rather than asking people with lots of privilege to get better at empathizing, on the hope that they’ll support policies that will help those less fortunate, stand in solidarity with working class people on strike at GM or in Chicago classroom as they contest for power that will improve their lives.
The other day a friend and I were talking politics and Medicare for All came up. She’s a proud Democrat and liberal activist-type who works at corporate law firm. I told her I’m fully in favor of M4A. I currently don’t have health insurance (yikes) and know many others do not as well.
She said said she’s strongly opposed to M4A if it means abolishing private insurance. I asked her why, and she said because she doesn’t want to give up the plush health insurance plan her law firm offers her.
I’m pretty sure a Marxist analysis would put that directly in the ‘class-conflict’ category.
The dynamics of class interest are at the macro level. To be clear, I’m all for empathy at the personal level.
So with my friend, I want to take a hearts and minds approach, and share with her how that view affects my well-being personally, and how it’s hard for me to hear she would oppose a policy that would help me and other people without health insurance get access to health care. Since we have a strong friendship, I think I may be able to help her make that connection. Evidence suggests she may even shift her policy position.
At a macro level, rather than try to convince 100,000 people like my friends that they should give up what they have to help people who need it, through say, an empathy museum, I want to join a political coalition of people who stand to gain something from a change in the healthcare system such as M4A, and class conscious allies who feel their liberation is bound to mine, to make this happen.
Here’s my deep dive on understanding her reasons for opposing M4A.
Physical
- Losing the health benefits free, unfettered access provides (e.g., seeing any doctor you want at any time)
Emotional
- Losing peace of mind current plan offers; trading that for uncertainty of how M4A would really work, what access to care it would grant her
- As her taxes rise and her perceive quality of health insurance declines, she may call into question her life choices of working for a corporate law firm
- She’s taken a stand against M4A; its passage and successful implementation may put as risk her certainty in her own political acumen
Financial
- Her taxes will rise
Social status
- Losing the prestige of having a fancy health insurance plan you can tell you friends about
- Losing a valuable and scarce asset that may make her more desirable to future romantic partners (low co-pays are sexy 😉 )
- Losing a valuable and scarce asset that may make her feel like she can prove herself to her parents
- Her past stance against M4A may jeopardize how people perceive her political judgement
Other
- She does not think unemployed people and poor people (and friends with low-incomes) deserve full health insurance
- She does not like the other policies people who support M4A support (e.g., higher minimum wage, wealth taxes)
CPA Incubator 