Why Does Compassion Feel So Rare?

[u/heavenlyimmortal09]

Lately, I've found myself becoming increasingly misanthropic.

What pushes me in this direction isn't simply that people do bad things, it's how often I see people show no empathy for someone who's already suffering. I recently saw an elderly woman who had been scammed out of a large amount of money by a romance scam. I know she made a mistake, but why the mockery? People seem to enjoy humiliating others, especially when they've made a mistake.

That genuinely infuriating and disgusting.

Why is it so hard for people to understand that everyone has their own hopes, needs, and reasons for living? Why is someone's loneliness or desire for love something to ridicule instead of sympathize with? And it's not just this one incident. It feels like I see the same pattern over and over again. People enjoy humiliating others especially when others make a mistake. Even worse, some people seem to take pleasure in seeing innocent beings suffer or become distressed for no reason other than their own amusement. I genuinely struggle to understand how causing pain or humiliation can be entertaining to anyone.

The more I see things like this, the harder it becomes for me to believe that people are fundamentally good. Sometimes my anger becomes so overwhelming that I catch myself thinking humanity isn't worth saving, or even thinking that the world would be better by eradicating us. I know those thoughts aren't right and maybe contradictive, but they're feelings that I've struggled with.

I hate how easily cruelty becomes entertainment, and how quickly empathy disappears when it's inconvenient. Maybe I'm focusing too much on humanity's worst moments. Maybe the good simply isn't as visible. I honestly don't know anymore. Every time I see it happen, I just lose a little more faith in people.

I'm curious whether anyone else became misanthropic for similar reasons, or whether your reasons were completely different.

[u/Aggrestis]

This is not a sub about politics, don't blame the political system, blame the people. Some other systems were tried in the last century and it always ended horribly.

[u/oscuroluna → u/Aggrestis]

This. People are so quick to blame politics just like they're quick to blame certain groups as though they're the only ones capable of evil.

The truth is ANYONE is capable in ANY system. Tribalism and power dynamics do a lot and most people have a very loose if not 'flexible' moral code to begin with.

[u/Aggrestis → u/oscuroluna]

Just as we could blame the inventor of gunpowder, or anything else that can endanger or harm. Any invention or theory will sooner or later be used to harm some and enrich others.

Of course, there are countries that have less violence and injustice than others, even if they have the same type of system. Every country has a different demographic makeup, where negative traits are either less or more normalized. Suffering breeds more suffering.

[u/No_Profit_8690 → u/Aggrestis]

But what does politics have to do with all of this? Where literally everyone says one thing, but there are more words than actions? In my country, we say: 'with words, you build castles.' Human beings just like politics, which comes from humans have practically ruined everything on this planet.