NVC and The War on Empathy: Reclaiming Our Shared Humanity
By Alan Rafael Seid, CNVC Certified Trainer
In recent memory, empathy was almost universally valued — in families, in schools, in workplaces, and in public life.
Parents aspired to raise empathic
children. Leaders were praised for showing emotional intelligence. Compassionate listening was recognized as an essential skill in diplomacy, education, community-building, and among some of the corporate leaders I coach.
But something has shifted in the cultural conversation. Today, empathy itself is under attack. Or rather, what is under attack is a certain idea about “empathy.”
In this article I cover a phenomenon in US
culture and politics referred to in the news and social media as “The War on Empathy.”
NOTE: If you haven’t heard of this phenomenon before, here is your warning that what lies ahead in this article is material I personally found shocking and disturbing. Researching and writing this article required a certain degree of emotional labor from me that at the same time I found important and worthwhile...
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