History, Trauma & the Lack of Empathy

History, “The past” as Faulkner wrote, “is never dead. It’s not even past.” Trauma, a Greek word for wound, takes on myriad shapes and forms. It often remains and reverberates through generations. There is individual trauma and collective trauma. However, just because you suffered does not give you permission to inflict suffering on others. Angela Davis said, “Victimization cannot be permitted to function as a halo of innocence.” Empathy is the ability to take on another person’s perspective, to understand, feel, and possibly share and respond to their experience. Victims need our empathy, our compassion but not according to the world’s richest man. Elon Musk has said, “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.” Wow.

Speaker: Gabor Maté

Gabor Maté is a Hungarian-born Canadian physician with a special interest in childhood development, trauma and potential lifelong impacts on physical and mental health, including addictions. He is the author of the award-winning In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction and co-author of The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture.

Description from www.alternativeradio.org