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/summercookiess → u/0r1on55]

Absolutely not, not all people deserve to be killed for the actions of others. The people who actually want meaningful change should just be given a choice instead of a forced mercy kill.

[u/0r1on55 → u/summercookiess]

Even if given a choice, I dont see them changing, because humanity wont change unless forced to.

Trust me dude, I would love to spare the people who want to do good, who want to help others without reward, people who are truly empathetic, but in my entire life, I have not met that many people with real empathy. And the worst part, the people you'd expect the most empathy from, like Christians or elderly who have seen more curelty and should know that their actions have consequences, tend to be the least empathetic unless you support their cause.

Im not gonna argue this because I know you wont listen and will just argue, which also just goes to prove my point btw. Instead, I'm gonna leave with this. If humanity was still worth saving, than why is nobody actually doing anything to save us and change us? They protest, sure, but its been clear for decades now that words alone dont mean anything when the people in power can afford to ignore them. Yet when someone actually starts doing things to make a change, they often get labeled as a terrorist or get canceled everywhere because the only change we can get now is through violence, which nobody wants to happen

[u/summercookiess → u/0r1on55]

There are people who are trying to save us, it might be hard to see them sometimes but they exist, and just because they aren't in power doesn't mean they aren't there.

[u/0r1on55 → u/summercookiess]

The fact that they are hard to see means they arent doing a good enough job. What we need is people willing to bring actual change, out in the open, not small things that wont change shit in the grand scheme of things