Elon Musk, in an interview with Joe Rogan earlier this year, said that he believed “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy,” and that liberals and progressives are “exploiting a bug in Western civilization, which is the empathy response.”

It is a common theme among ultra-conservatives who demonize all charitable works and programs designed to improve humanity’s standard of living as “socialism,” “communism,” or “Marxism.” But that’s just conservative double-speak designed to justify their own White Christian Nationalist (WCN) philosophy.

To begin with, let’s look at some brief, accurate definitions of those terms:

“Socialism, social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources. According to the socialist view, individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one another. Furthermore, everything that people produce is in some sense a social product, and everyone who contributes to the production of a good is entitled to a share in it. Society as a whole, therefore, should own or at least control property for the benefit of all its members.” [Richard Dagger and Terence Ball, Britannica.com, updated May 11, 2025.]

“Communism, political and economic doctrine that aims to replace private property and a profit-based economy with public ownership and communal control of at least the major means of production (e.g., mines, mills, and factories) and the natural resources of a society. Communism is thus a form of socialism — a higher and more advanced form, according to its advocates. Exactly how communism differs from socialism has long been a matter of debate, but the distinction rests largely on the communists’ adherence to the revolutionary socialism of Karl Marx.” [Richard Dagger and Terence Ball, Britannica.com, updated May 26, 2025.]

“Marxism, a body of doctrine developed by Karl Marx and, to a lesser extent, by Friedrich Engels in the mid-19th century. It originally consisted of three related ideas: a philosophical anthropology, a theory of history, and an economic and political program. There is also Marxism as it has been understood and practiced by the various socialist movements, particularly before 1914. Then there is Soviet Marxism as worked out by Vladimir Ilich Lenin and modified by Joseph Stalin, which under the name of Marxism-Leninism became the doctrine of the communist parties set up after the Russian Revolution (1917). . . .” [David T. McLellan and Henri Chambre, Britannica.com, updated June 29, 2025.]

Marx is perhaps most popularly known for his slogan: “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs” — an over-simplified mantra that is often used to try to define socialism and rationalize one’s opposition to welfare programs such as Medicaid, free school lunches, and homeless shelters.

But social welfare programs do not advocate common ownership of property. They are designed to assist people in times of need — when life throws us curve balls we are unable to deflect on our own — until we are once more able to work and care for ourselves . . . or, in the case of the elderly and chronically ill, until we die of natural causes, in reasonable comfort and with dignity.

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Many of those same anti-empaths will argue that charitable programs simply promote laziness and abuse of the system. And to some extent, they are correct.

Yes, there will always be those who will find a way to “work” the system to their own selfish advantage. That, unfortunately, is one of the lower instincts of human nature. But should those in legitimate need — the ill or injured, the permanently disabled, the elderly, the orphaned children — be punished for the crimes of a few despicable individuals? Or shouldn’t the people who administer the social programs be held responsible for their proper management in order to detect and prevent such abuse?

It’s not a new story — the “haves” dismissing the “have-nots” as disposable. Charles Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly, embittered recluse, spoke of letting the poor die in order to “decrease the surplus population.” Today’s Scrooges — the likes of Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and their autocratic billionaire cronies — are simply reaffirming the philosophy of old Ebenezer, while trying to pass it off as pragmatic anti-socialism.

But empathy, altruism, and simple kindness have nothing to do with political philosophy. They are what make us human. If we truly wish to decrease the “surplus population,” I say we start by putting the greedy, inhumane, destructive oligarchs out of work, and denying them welfare benefits.

In the words of Senator Mitch McConnell: “They’ll get over it.“

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/6/25