Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

There is something of a loose, informal social contract inherent to a successful human society, and that is the condition of reciprocal empathy. When one experiences misfortune, others in a healthy society care and assist, despite there being no contractual obligation. Others care when catastrophe falls upon their neighbors. It’s basic empathy, not a complicated interaction. Yet we have been immersed in a society that simply wants us to feel empathy in one direction, and that is towards those who have ample resources and power but, for whatever reason, have hit a bump in their golden paved road. The empathy our power structures want us to feel is not the kind that extends downward; the narrative is that we should only feel a concern for the already powerful when they face misfortune.

An example of this would be the recent magnification of the loss of housing for individuals like actor James Woods (well, I say “actor” but who knew he was playing himself in Casino?). He has been appearing on all the major “news”–(again, the quotes) channels, weeping and wailing over the loss of his mansion. I ask you this—have any of you ever seen an interview on such media from the homeless who have had every single one of their possessions taken, not by wildfire, but by police sweeps—sweeps often conducted to remove the unsightliness of poverty prior to big game events and concerts and such? I’m guessing no. They wouldn’t even want the homeless in their studio. But of these groups –who is more likely to be able to build back their possessions? I am guessing James Woods is not sleeping below an overpass without a sleeping bag or tent at this time.

The lack of empathy is, of course, what brings people to these dire straits in the first place. As I often say, it’s a feature, not a bug, in late-day capitalism that instead of the carrot dangling like it did in the 50’s (a home, a boat maybe, money to send the kids to college), we are firmly in stick territory. If you do not participate successfully in this parasitic economy, you may end up without any safety net at all in your life. Never mind that we have ample resources to deal with any and all of these........

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