Lack of empathy towards lower class

[Discussion]

I was looking up things about empathy this morning. And I came across this https://raybwilliams.medium.com/does-emotional-intelligence-eq-empathy-and-compassion-decline-among-the-wealthy-d3694a98e97f#:~:text=In%20multiple%20trials%20that%20involved,who%20came%20from%20affluent%20backgrounds.

Seems to say empathy and compassion declines among wealthy .

I do think wealth and class look down and there's a lack of empathy towards lower classes and poorer people.

Surely that’s just stating the obvious? What’s your question?

Might be obvious to you. There does have to be a question

It can go both ways though. I think we all have a tendency to think "yeah, I wish I had their problems" when something bad happens to a wealthy person.

Definitely goes both ways. Look at ocean gate - people were incredibly unsympathetic I'm guessing because the people on board were very wealthy.

How many wealthy people are there actually around? Probably not that many in the whole scheme of things. I imagine some are wealthy because they don’t give a shit about people anyway …. They’re not drawn to jobs that help society. Other wealthy people who inherit wealth are no doubt cushioned from the realities and clueless

I feel like this thread is just designed to start a row but for my two cents I'd say it's a bit of a generalisation to imply that upper class, wealthy people aren't empathetic and look down on the working class.

There have been, and still are, very wealthy people that do a lot of good with their money. Philanthropists..

There can be tax advantages to philanthropy

I can't agree with this - it goes both ways . How many people during Brexit were told by 'salt of the earth' folks that 'I don't give a shit if it puts your business under- do something else. '

Unhelpful generalisation. Anyway, the article says that when people experience economic inequality (presumably this is pretty much all the time, as we don't live in an egalitarian utopia) they 'behave like wealthy people' - i.e. are more individualistic and less empathetic.

Don’t think it’s about class. DP has some very wealthy clients who have given him loads of stuff ranging from a grandfather clock, 2 pine dressers, Barbour jackets.
Another client has started fostering. They don’t need to but they want to help others less lucky.
On the other hand some working class people are veritably joyful about refugees being denied entry to the UK and sent back on boats, hate benefit claimants, love punching down.

I heard a theory once about the American Dream, which applies a lot here as well I think. If you believe that you can achieve anything if you want it badly enough/work hard enough, then you have to believe that poorer people just haven't worked hard enough/been smart enough, so it's easy to have no empathy towards the less fortunate. They're all 'spongers' or 'shirkers'.

That's very true . Never thought about it that way .

I think the lack of sympathy is because it was a stupid thing to do…

Agree with @beguilingeyes

@TheLightSideOfTheMoon true, that too!

@beguilingeyes totally agree - it defines this whole nasty government we currently have in power.

I think people with money struggle to understand people without. My cleaner and I were chatting as she used to clean for someone I work with. Turns out she stopped because payment was always late and the lady didn’t understand that the money was needed for their family food so delaying it 6 days impacted significantly. I don’t think it would be deliberate but being on a 6 figure salary seemed to affect her being awareness.

Look at the current and recent UK cabinets who have actually passed all these unempathetic laws and have created such huge inequalities. They're the least diverse class-wise since 1992 - 65% of current cabinet are privately educated, 2/3 of Johnson's was. That's a stronger evidence base than someone giving your DP their cast offs and your anecdote about 'some working class people'

I feel like this thread is just designed to start a row but for my two cents I'd say it's a bit of a generalisation to imply that upper class, wealthy people aren't empathetic and look down on the working class.

I agree. I hate these sorts of statistics, life is way more complicated than that. Highly successful people often have a selfish, sociopathic streak and they are more concerned with being driven than with being liked. They don't always have great empathy. That's why they are successful, even if they aren't always likeable. And success usually comes with high financial reward. I think it's over-simplistic to say therefore, that rich people lack empathy. There is also evidence to show that richer people tend to give more readily to charity than poorer people. The obvious answer to that is that they do because they can. It doesn't mean that poor people are meaner.

Often people with anti-social personality disorders, low levels of personal responsibility and very low levels of empathy are, in general quite poor, because they lack the self discipline and boundaries to hold down a job for very long, and cannot get along with people and do not react well to authority.

I think it's an over-generalisation on that basis, to think that poor people are more anti-social than rich people and that they lack self discipline and personal responsibility in large numbers.

I don't see the "lower class" (as you put it) exhibiting any empathy towards the middle or upper classes.

Nope. I was on the first three or so threads and there was definitely a lot of sneering about the wealth of the people who died. (I didn't post - though I did read - on the fourth and fifth threads because by that time the threads had degenerated into repetitious bilge.)

I don't see the "lower class" (as you put it) exhibiting any empathy towards the middle or upper classes.

Yes, exactly. It seems perfectly acceptable to mock and sneer at someone's 'posh' voice and make sweeping assumptions about their personality, or their levels of privilege, assuming they will be horribly snobbish, or look down on others, when you actually know fuck all about them.

It seems perfectly acceptable to rip someone to shreds and call them 'entitled' or 'braying' or 'Tory scum' purely because you are aware they've been born into some degree of privilege, without having the first idea about whether or not they feel entitled to anything whatsoever.

1. If you have never experienced something - in this case, low income/ poverty - it's hard to relate to it.
   It's just human nature.

2. someone who has worked hard to be wealthy might equally not be sympathetic, because in their eyes all you need to do is work hard. What gets forgottenis the fact that you need some luck and be in the right place at the right time.

Having said that, plenty of wealthy people are sympathetic to specific courses or have special interests and support these through charities like the environment, animals or childhood illness.

I’ve met many a wealthy ‘low-class’ person. And I’ve met many a poor person with the best morals and behaviour out there. Money doesn’t buy class, and having lots of money is not the same as being ‘high class’, in my opinion.