On Compassion

Against the misuse of compassion as a crutch and rhetorical weapon

In the modern world, compassion remains one of very few ancient virtues which is actively promoted in mass culture. In some ways, this virtue has become a crutch for a society suffering a collapse of other values; without codified standards of how people should relate to each other, people who desire to act righteously are essentially left only with the advice that they should be kind and treat other people in the way they would like to be treated. Although compassion is undoubtedly good in itself, a debate has arisen in some corners of our society. A growing number of people believe that cultural institutions such as media and education have developed a tendency to apply and encourage compassion selectively, often in service of particular agendas. Although this practice largely depends on a selective use of facts and not necessarily on a warping of the concept of compassion, it does point towards a crucial issue: When compassion is the last widely acknowledged major social virtue, and certain organs with their own goals have the exclusive power to curate the stories which the court of public opinion will decide how to apply compassion to, what defense does society have against emotional predators? I am reminded of a lyric from a song called Caligulove :

“A sensitive soul is just
A tyrant who enslaves
All those around him
To make certain he

Is hurt, always”

Do we face a world in which that particular human type, the one who abuses-from-below, has become dominant? Perhaps, but I think it is a little more likely that such a type is now just a puppet for a different sort of abuser, one who “cries wolf” as the old folk tale warns. The modern mass media has a penchant for deploying compassion predatorily: It points to, say, a practitioner of traditional medicine, and declares “this person is spreading misinformation that could hurt somebody!” -- Such an angle allows them to posture as guardians of the public while fulfilling their actual goal of protecting a pharmaceutical racket which actively harms millions of people and spends billions of dollars on settlements that admit their guilt.

It’s a brilliant strategy, too. Compassion is close bedfellows with indignance, and indignance all too often leads to radicalization even to the point of violence. Yes, you heard me right: compassion can easily lead to violence. This is not inherently bad, as the good must always be willing to defend goodness, but it does show us that compassion can be volatile and that a dishonestly or ignorantly cultivated compassion can cause unjust violence. How, then, can we defend our compassion -- which is a sacred gift -- from actors that wish to trick us into serving selfish ends? This excellent excerpt from hellenicgods.org can help us:

“Pláto identifies four principal manifestations of arætí (virtue): courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom. They are known as the four cardinal virtues of classical antiquity. Compassion (ἔλεος) is actually the most important virtue, but without courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom, compassion is not attainable. Compassion is the providence of Zeus. It is what he means for us and what he desires his creatures to emulate.”

In short, Compassion is not soil; it is a flower. In order for your compassion to grow to its divinely intended power and beauty, it requires you to be rooted in a foundation of strength and discernment. Compassion without the judgement to apply it rightfully, or even just the strength to apply it at all, can leave you worse off. A lack of strength can leave you unable to enact actual change through your compassion -- a very unpleasant helplessness -- and a lack of judgement can leave you duped by injustice. 

If you take nothing else away from this discussion, take this: Compassion cultivated without courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom is a flower in acidic soil. Remember those words when you are accused of lacking compassion by people whose compassion has been abducted, and be sure to show compassion to them - after you show courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom, of course.