Of the qualities the American right has come to despise(鄙视，厌恶) in the left, empathy is the most puzzling. Boy, do they hate it. A stream of books in recent years has supplemented constant podcast and social-media chatter about what is seen as nothing less than(简直是，无异于), well, a sin. In 2025 “Leadership and the Sin of Empathy”, by Joe Rigney, came hot on the heels of(紧随其后) the previous year’s bestselling “Toxic Empathy”, by Allie Beth Stuckey. This May brought “Suicidal Empathy”, an instant and persistent bestseller by Gad Saad, a professor of marketing and a podcaster. Mr Saad’s sales have no doubt been boosted by the plug on his cover from Elon Musk, who warns that “Western civilisation is doomed” unless Mr Saad’s message is heeded and “actions are taken that are hard but necessary for survival”.(萨阿德的销量无疑得益于马斯克的推荐，后者警告西方文明将灭亡。)
在美国右翼对左翼所鄙视的各种品质中，同理心是最令人费解的一个。天哪，他们真是恨透了它。近年来，一系列书籍不断补充着播客和社交媒体上关于同理心的讨论——在他们看来，这简直是一种罪过。2025年，乔·里格尼的《领导力与同理心之罪》紧随前一年艾莉·贝丝·斯塔基的畅销书《有毒的同理心》之后出版。今年五月，营销学教授兼播客主加德·萨阿德的《自杀式同理心》一经问世便持续畅销。萨阿德的销量无疑得益于埃隆·马斯克在封面上的推荐语，马斯克警告说，除非萨阿德的信息得到重视，并且“采取艰难但必要的生存行动”，否则“西方文明注定灭亡”。
The previous Republican president, George W. Bush, called himself a “compassionate conservative(富有同情心的保守派)”, but that’s not why this horror of empathy is puzzling; condemning empathy is one more way for today’s Republicans to erase him. It is puzzling instead because a surfeit(过量，过度) of understanding of the needs of others would seem a poor explanation for Democrats’ dismal(惨淡的，糟糕的) approval ratings, even as Donald Trump alienate(疏远，使不友好)s most Americans by enriching himself, gilding Washington and waging war without a strategy.
前共和党总统乔治·W·布什曾自称“富有同情心的保守派”，但这并非同理心恐惧令人费解的原因；谴责同理心不过是当今共和党人抹去他的一种方式。令人费解的真正原因是，对他人需求的过度理解似乎无法解释民主党惨淡的支持率——即便唐纳德·特朗普通过中饱私囊、粉饰华盛顿以及无战略地发动战争来疏远大多数美国人。
In fact, for some years a case could be made(可以提出论点)—Lexington has tried to make it—that the left’s problem has been a lack of empathy: for Americans displaced(流离失所的，被取代的) by technology and trade; for those vulnerable to(易受……伤害的) crime; for those alarmed by(被……惊吓/担忧) chaos at the border; for those without a college degree; for those frustrated at(对……感到沮丧) paying high taxes for poor government services; for those anxious that(担心……) Joe Biden was too old to serve a second term; for everyone who supports Mr Trump. When it comes to empathy, if anyone has been committing suicide(自杀), it is the Democratic Party. In any case, the West seems pretty safe these days from too much of the stuff.
事实上，多年来一直可以提出这样的论点——本专栏也曾尝试提出——即左翼的问题在于缺乏同理心：对因技术和贸易而流离失所的美国人；对易受犯罪侵害的人；对因边境混乱而惊慌的人；对没有大学学位的人；对因支付高额税款却得到糟糕政府服务而沮丧的人；对担心乔·拜登年龄太大无法连任的人；对所有支持特朗普的人。说到同理心，如果说谁在自杀，那便是民主党。无论如何，如今的西方似乎相当安全，不会受到过多同理心的威胁。
What’s so scary about peace, love and understanding?
和平、爱与理解有什么可怕的？