This last week there has been a remarkable pair of statements from the richest man in the world. The first “The fundamental weakness in western civilization is empathy.”
He goes on to refer to empathy as if it were a bug in an operating system. If we could just reboot civilization and upgrade to civilization 2.0 absent empathy the world would be a better place. He believes there is such a thing as suicidal empathy. And that it destroys civilizations. Mr. Musk is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.
Evil is the lack of Empathy
I can think of no better definition of evil than the lack of empathy. Civilization and Democratic Governance has been built on the idea that it can institutionalize empathy. We think of it as the common good. The fact that we all benefit when we all contribute. That contribution is based on the feeling that we do not want others to suffer, because we understand the pain and suffering ourselves. This sentiment has been captured in every religious and literary tradition.
The Tradition of Empathy
“No Man is an island. We are all part of the same continent. When one is diminished, we are all diminished.” John Donne
“Love God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul and love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39
“Now, when you recognize that all beings are equal in both their desire for happiness and their right to obtain it, you automatically feel empathy and closeness for them.” Dali Lama
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Preamble of the Constitution
It is the foundational idea of our Constitution. So important it is embedded in the Preamble.
Civilization 2.0?
There is amongst the digital elites a mindset that has been formed through their manipulation and reliance on software for their wealth. In the venue of operating systems, it is often necessary to do a complete reboot. A system must be broken down to it essential parts before it can be reconstituted. Users may be temporarily inconvenienced but ultimately the improvements in the operating system and the enhanced capabilities will make up for the temporary loss of functionality. If Facebook, Twitter, Amazon or Google go down no one dies. No one misses their social security check. No one crashes into the Potomac.
What Mr. Musk is attempting to do with his insertion into federal governance is to tear it down. The same way you would reboot any operating system. The problem is the needs of citizens are persistent and ongoing. You can’t temporarily halt air traffic control. You can’t suspend social security payments, you can’t interfere with the flow of resources to communities that they rely on. We will reboot the system and rid it of the imaginary demons of corruption and waste. We will build a better mouse trap. Meanwhile services will be suspended, payments will be halted. We are fixing the system. IT DOES NOT AND CANNOT WORK THAT WAY.
Governance is Empathy Institutionalized
One of the great tragedies of the last half century is the general population has become inured to the power of governance to alleviate the suffering of others and themselves. It is the only institution whose sole purpose is to provide benefits to the citizen. It is why we build roads, spend millions on medical research, secure a public pension system that alleviates poverty for the elderly, create a health care system for the elderly that assures their access to life saving health care.
These are just a few examples. Civilization and the ability of a population to live civil and prosperous lives depends in part on our capacity to translate empathy into action. To care for each other we care for ourselves. Governance is the institutionalized expression of that mandate. It is not perfect. No institution is. But a civilization absent empathy. Has already committed suicide.