There is an ever growing body of research data that supports the theory that people on the right end of the political spectrum has an empathy deficiency.
If they start out that way or end up that why, by rationalizing their world view according to their political beliefs, we don't know.
But the effect is that they're happy with living in less well functioning societies, because they believe that's how society is supposed to work.
Or as one study puts it:
"Conservative people report higher Subjective Well-being (SWB) because they ignore or rationalise away many of the factors that otherwise might negatively influence their SWB - unemployment, inequality, disparate health care and education."
So yes - the right-wing mind is today, just as in the time of Dickens - perfectly OK with seeing others suffer around them.
And I can assure you this isn't just in the US - this is how right-wingers think in the rest of the world as well.
It's just that in the rest of the western world, we have socialist and liberal parties that have dragged the political right by the hair - kicking and screaming - into the 21st century.
The political right never voluntarily accepts any progressive reforms anywhere (unless it's a play to stop even more progressive reforms they know would be coming otherwise). Their entire ideological doctrine is based on trying to stop society progressing at all.
Which is obviously just stupid, since they never can and therefore only end up losing in the end.
So you have to beat them at the polls and enact those progressive changes you know are for the good of the country - against the screeching of the political right.
Then give in ten years or so to see them work - and then the political right sees how popular and well functioning the reforms are, and will start claiming they where always for them.
That's how universal healthcare was enacted in every other western democracy - not with the support of the political right, but against their fierce opposition.
And that's the same way you'll probably have to do it in the US as well.
But don't worry - when the systems is in place, costs are down and the voters happy with the service - the political right will start claiming they're the biggest defenders of the popular system, so then you don't have to fight them on that precise point anymore.
Instead you can move on to the next progressive development that you have to beat into the conservative brain before they accept.
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@TransitioningUSA
There is an ever growing body of research data that supports the theory that people on the right end of the political spectrum has an empathy deficiency.
If they start out that way or end up that why, by rationalizing their world view according to their political beliefs, we don't know.
But the effect is that they're happy with living in less well functioning societies, because they believe that's how society is supposed to work.
Or as one study puts it:
"Conservative people report higher Subjective Well-being (SWB) because they ignore or rationalise away many of the factors that otherwise might negatively influence their SWB - unemployment, inequality, disparate health care and education."
http://www.thejournal.ie/conservative-liberal-happiness-social-welfare-1671962-Sep2014/
So yes - the right-wing mind is today, just as in the time of Dickens - perfectly OK with seeing others suffer around them.
And I can assure you this isn't just in the US - this is how right-wingers think in the rest of the world as well.
It's just that in the rest of the western world, we have socialist and liberal parties that have dragged the political right by the hair - kicking and screaming - into the 21st century.
The political right never voluntarily accepts any progressive reforms anywhere (unless it's a play to stop even more progressive reforms they know would be coming otherwise). Their entire ideological doctrine is based on trying to stop society progressing at all.
Which is obviously just stupid, since they never can and therefore only end up losing in the end.
So you have to beat them at the polls and enact those progressive changes you know are for the good of the country - against the screeching of the political right.
Then give in ten years or so to see them work - and then the political right sees how popular and well functioning the reforms are, and will start claiming they where always for them.
That's how universal healthcare was enacted in every other western democracy - not with the support of the political right, but against their fierce opposition.
And that's the same way you'll probably have to do it in the US as well.
But don't worry - when the systems is in place, costs are down and the voters happy with the service - the political right will start claiming they're the biggest defenders of the popular system, so then you don't have to fight them on that precise point anymore.
Instead you can move on to the next progressive development that you have to beat into the conservative brain before they accept.