Those who seemingly disdain values I hold dear — solidarity, compassion, freedom — have launched a war on empathy. MAGA champion Elon Musk put this view most succinctly when he labeled empathy as dangerous to America, and “Western” civilization as a whole. Advertisement“The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy,” Musk said earlier this year on the Joe Rogan podcast. So, I think, you know, empathy is good, but you need to think it through.”The premise here isn’t that all empathy is wrong, only empathy for those deemed unworthy. We know America has always been an experiment, with the battle between empathy and clarity ongoing at its core.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 27, 2025 15:32 UTC