Letter from Katherine Marie O’Handley
On Empathy, Toxic Wealth
I’ve been seeing videos lately on the rise of the call to “repeal the 19th” on the grounds that women are “too empathetic” to such “toxic” ends as voting to protect immigrants. Why are we so afraid of empathy? Because it might compromise us to share “too many” of our resources?
Doesn’t our nation have more than enough to go around? There are buildings that stand empty while the homeless die of exposure, and foods that expire on shelves while children go hungry. Elon Musk is a trillionaire.
What’s actually toxic is hoarding wealth.
Empathy leads us to covering someone’s bill, watching out for a kid that’s wandered off, paying taxes that fund free school lunches, food stamps, and programs across the globe that provide free HIV/AIDS testing and treatments. Empathy helps us take care of each other. As for the fear that someone might take advantage of that, if we focus on getting everyone’s needs met through more fairly distributing wealth, it creates less reason for people to try to do so, and also softens the blow in the instance that they do.
Why are our politicians some of the wealthiest in the nation? It kind of seems like they’re the ones taking advantage. According to Forbes, Donald Trump’s net worth has increased from $2.3 to $6.5 billion between 2024 and 2026. Vote to tax the rich! They’ll probably still be billionaires after. And don’t be so willing to give up your chance to share your perspective.
Katherine Marie O’Handley
Oneonta
