Musk: The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy (1 Viewer)

[SonOfDaedalus]

“The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy, the empathy exploit,” Musk said. “There it’s they’re exploiting a bug in Western civilization, which is the empathy response.”

Empathy, he said, has been “weaponized.”

Let's open a book and review a brief history of Western Civilization...

Roman Conquest. The Romans casually enjoying watching people be eaten by lions.
Hundreds of years of European war and butchery
Colonialism -- terrorizing less developed cultures all over the world
Transatlantic slave trade
Native American nearly wiped out
WWI chemical weapons
WWII Six Million Jews murdered. 70 to 80 million total deaths
Civil War -- half of Americans fought to keep millions in slavery
Jim Crow era continues until 1965
Apartheid in South Africa

But yeah, the fundamental weakness of Western Civilization is too much empathy.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/05/politics/elon-musk-rogan-interview-empathy-doge/index.html

This man is NOT a genius. He says the stupidest things. This thought is indefensibly idiotic.

 

[Lisa]

Elmo Musk is a sociopath.

Empathy is a core concept of ethics.

 

[Grand Mal]

Let's open a book and review a brief history of Western Civilization...

Roman Conquest. The Romans casually enjoying watching people be eaten by lions.
Hundreds of years of European war and butchery
Colonialism -- terrorizing less developed cultures all over the world
Transatlantic slave trade
Native American nearly wiped out
WWI chemical weapons
WWII Six Million Jews murdered. 70 to 80 million total deaths
Civil War -- half of Americans fought to keep millions in slavery
Jim Crow era continues until 1965
Apartheid in South Africa

But yeah, the fundamental weakness of Western Civilization is too much empathy.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/05/politics/elon-musk-rogan-interview-empathy-doge/index.html

This man is NOT a genius. He says the stupidest things. This thought is indefensibly idiotic.

The white tribes of Europe didn't come to dominate most of the world by being empathetic.
They got there by being the most warlike tribes in the world.
That 'empathy' crap is a strange thing to say coming from someone whose fortune rose out of mining in apartheid-era South Africa. Those black miners were some of the most cruely-exploited people in history.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Empathy and love are the basis of human morality. Any society that does not use them as a central building block deserves to be overthrown, bloodily if necessary.

 

[ScrambledEggs]

"Christian" Conservatives agree!

 

[markdc]

Let's open a book and review a brief history of Western Civilization...
Roman Conquest. The Romans casually enjoying watching people be eaten by lions.
Hundreds of years of European war and butchery
Colonialism -- terrorizing less developed cultures all over the world
Transatlantic slave trade
Native American nearly wiped out
WWI chemical weapons
WWII Six Million Jews murdered. 70 to 80 million total deaths
Civil War -- half of Americans fought to keep millions in slavery
Jim Crow era continues until 1965
Apartheid in South Africa
But yeah, the fundamental weakness of Western Civilization is too much empathy.

Civilizations across the world have engaged in slavery, oppression, cannibalism, colonialism, and warfare. It was the West that originated the movement that finally abolished slavery. The West also created democracy, republicanism, Capitalism, and the concept of human rights and individual liberty. Hell, it you like Progressivism and Socialism, the West created those, too.

Mark

 

[OrphanSlug]

Musk is not even being original about this, even if it sounds otherwise. This is an old argument from conservatism related to assistance becoming dependence, that is what the 'weaponized' bit is all about is who picks up the tab. Or, an argument that billionaires should keep more of their wealth and a healthy economy and society is not all that important.