Our Lack of Empathy for Billionaires

In light of the recent submarine news, we have seen hundreds of jokes and memes about the Ocean Gate vessel imploding with a bunch of billionaires on board.

Aside from being cruel, these jokes went as far as showing an absolute lack of empathy towards billionaires, which caused me to raise the question: Don’t normal people care about billionaires?

The answer is simply no, and for a multitude of reasons.

Empathy is a fundamental human trait that enables individuals to understand and share the feelings of others. Psychologically, sociologically, and even biologically, empathy has been shown to be crucial for building and maintaining communities. Evolutionarily, empathy has played a significant role in creating safer and more productive societies. When people care about the well-being of those around them, they are more likely to foster a sense of compassion and empathy.

These feelings are, interestingly, primarily a human-to-community experience rather than a human-to-human experience. We tend to feel stronger empathy towards our family and friends compared to strangers, despite the fact that they’re all equally human. This emphasis on community is deeply ingrained within us, as it serves to strengthen social bonds and promote cooperation for the benefit of the entire group serving prosperity and security.

It is their detachment from the community that contributes to the lack of empathy towards billionaires. When a person accumulates vast amounts of wealth, they often use their resources to distance themselves from society. This separation makes it easier for them to exploit the labor of others to further enrich themselves. Therefore, it becomes challenging for ordinary individuals to have affinity with those who actively contribute to the destruction of the communities to which they belong.

“Eat the Rich” is a phrase often used by people who view billionaires as criminals who prioritize their personal financial gain over the well-being of the wider population. Another significant reason for the absence of empathy towards billionaires is the perception that they hoard resources and create artificial scarcity to increase their wealth. This perception further hinders the development of empathy towards individuals who are seen as actively contributing to the unequal distribution of resources.

In conclusion, empathy is a complex human trait deeply rooted in our evolutionary history and the formation of communities. While it thrives in a human-to-community context, billionaires often detach themselves from the very communities in which this sense of fellowship flourishes. Their actions cause the average person’s compassion to wane and their sympathy to erode.

Written By : Yasmine Piccioni.