comment: >
  
  Or they could just get a job and buy their own PS5.
context: My favorite are the ones with very harsh political views that immediately develop a soft spot once it begins to effect them or someone they care aboout personally. >
  
  my overly religious sister after her son came out of the closet about the church: "i dont like they pretend they have the moral highground all the time" >
  
  This is dumb.  We know for a fact that PS5's have pain blocking technology. >
  
  Is that...not what haptic feedback is? >
  
  I totally agree, there's way too many people who think money is some magic shield that prevents you from feeling pain. Those people really lack some basic emotional intelligence and empathy. >
  
  Most people seem to completely not understand this. 
  Does it remove some stress from your life? Sure. But it also adds some. It’s not the same as your car breaking down and now you can’t get to work. But it’s stress nonetheless. 
  At the end of the day, it’s all just stuff. It’s only meaningful if you have time to enjoy it and people to enjoy it with. >
  
  Yet, I'll bet your house you don't want to trade places with the homeless person.  
  Understand WTF the point is. >
  
  I bet you wouldn’t want to either. >
  
  Point is everyone says it's just stuff but no one would want to be homeless on the streets and don't want to admit that having certain things provides a certain level of happiness you wouldn't have otherwise. >
  
  Your argument is exactly the kind of thing OP is talking about. It puts hardship and struggle on a hierarchy and the struggles of someone higher on the social ladders is worth less than the struggles of someone lower. 
  Depressed? How can you be depressed, you aren't homeless!
  What do you mean, you feel worthless because you can't get a job? You're white, you can't feel worthless!
  Aww, you're sad you can't find a relationship? Too bad, you're a man! There are women who deserve that sadness more than you for the exact same thing.
  There are starving kids in Africa and that doesn't invalidate how I feel. Or how you feel. And some times people are just fucked over, no matter how rich they are. Remember what happened to Johnny Depp? >
  
  Yeah, ya still have feelings, that doesnt mean cash and financial security dont help, and throwing yourself a pity party for having an extra car is ridiculous >
  
  Agreed. Also have a problem w ppl that call themselves “empaths” for the same reason >
  
  Pain is pain for everyone, everyone struggles. I just happen to be able to see that some have tools to treat that pain and those struggles, and A LOT of people don’t. >
  
  Couldn't agree more. Especially when a lot of people act as though being "privileged" (which can be a fairly nebulously and overused term anyway) means you cannot have problems or your problems are unimportant.
  There are always going to be more important problems, I live in Britain therefore I have less important problems than someone living in Ukraine or Ethiopia.  But that doesn't mean I don't have problems and it doesn't mean they don't affect me. >
  
  Yeah I got called privileged for being able to get a diagnosis for my autism. People just use that term for anyone they dislike >
  
  It can also be used as an excuse for self diagnosis but that's way more common online than it is in person. >
  
  
  "this person cannot possibly feel pain because he owns a ps5, and that ps5 protects that person from feeling pain",
  
  I understand your point, but a PS5 costs like half as much as a cell phone these days. I wouldn't call that being privileged. >
  
  It depends. Half of the world population cannot afford a PS5. >
  
  Privilege is subjective, then.
  For example in an extremely poor country, people who can afford 2 meals a day are privileged compared to those who only eat once a day. >
  
  Exactly. The cell phone I have right now is probably better than the cell phones even the richest king was able to get in the 19th century. Some kings would probably kill to be able to get even the Nokia phone my dad had when I was a kid.
  Many of us have something that would make the richest person in the past jealous. Yet, those people have more wealth. Privilege is super relative. >
  
  This comment makes almost no sense. >
  
  It makes perfect sense. The cell phone I have is better than the one the richest king was able to buy in the 19th century; which is to say, no cell phone at all. You don't think kings from the past would be jealous of our ability to communicate with people around the world, have the world's knowledge at our fingertips, use productivity tools to make our lives easier... not to mention other modern advancements, like our ability to eradicate diseases like smallpox and polio. 
  Even the poorest of us have access to things that the richest people in the past could only dream of. That's a privilege you enjoy because of the circumstances of your birth, just as much as white privilege or wealth privilege or any other privilege you care to name. >
  
  No, we are not limited in empathy,  we are showing apathy. We don't care, not that we can't care. >
  
  There are countless studies that confirm that more money = less empathy across the board (there are always exceptions).
  We are simply returning the favor. >
  
  Ah yes, the famous “us and them” approach, with just a dash of generalization and whataboutism. Famously used by compassionate and empathetic souls with reasonable nuanced takes >
  
  Well the polarisation of our society is mostly caused by the interests of the extremely rich. >
  
  TIL owning a ps5 makes you rich lol
  Come on tho dude many people in poverty have 70 inch TVs and the latest consoles. They're still in poverty. >
  
  Sure. But at the same time - I can understand perfectly how someone ends up the way they are while still acknowledging that maintaining their privileged existence requires subjugating their fellow man to their whims.
  I often think how out of touch, sheltered, and ignorant I would be if I were rich. Like people who watched breaking bad might understand how walter white ended up the way he is, but thats not an excuse for his behavior. >
  
  Most wealthy people aren't subjugating anyone >
  
  Please elaborate. >
  
  Me? >
  
  Yes please. >
  
  Well, let's say someone works very hard to build a life from nothing. They work their asses off to get into a great university, and leverage that education to get placed in a big company. They work to revolutionise that company and make it a success and they're paid handsomely for doing so. Where is the subjugation necessary in that? >
  
  How well do they treat their employees? How well do they pay their employees? >
  
  I mean I'm making it up, but pretty good 😛it depends on what your thresholds are. People who work for a company can't be paid the full value of their labour, because if they were, then there wouldn't be a business. 
  When a company creates a job they say what they think the labour is worth and you either agree by applying or you don't, there's nothing involuntary about it and so I don't think you could call it subjugation. 
  They take advantage of your labour, sure, but that's the deal. You take the deal if you think they'll pay you more than you can generate for yourself or more than you'd get elsewhere. >
  
  
  When a company creates a job they say what they think the labour is worth and you either agree by applying or you don't, there's nothing involuntary about it
  
  There is if the person applying either has nowhere else to go, or is unable to find any other job that pays livable wages. >
  
  Doing that to people isn't necessarily required for someone to succeed. I know a millionaire who owns a computer company, he pays his staff good wages. 40k a year is a decent wage in the UK. He is wealthy and privileged and doesn't subjugate anyone. 
  My point was never that capitalism cant be cruel or capitalists can't be evil, it's just silly to say they all are or that being in that position necessarily means you have subjugated people when it's clearly not true.
  People who work for Google are working for one of the richest companies and some of the richest people in the world, but they get paid well. 
  We can be real about how shitty the system can be without just saying success/successful people are all bad.
  We need successful people, they're the ones who get stuff done >
  
  It's actually wealthy people who have less empathy for others. >
  
  Money doesn't change who you are, it reveals who you are. 
  A genuinely good person will still be a good person after becoming wealthy. And a wealthy asshole was already an asshole prior to wealth. >
  
  person 1 : links scientific study that shows empathy decreases with wealth
  person 2: ignores reality and substitutes their own bullshit. >
  
  Sure, but the flip side is that capitalism rewards selfishness generally and dark traid traits specifically. So its more correct to say a genuinely good person will never become wealthy in the first place. >
  
  So people with lucky outcomes aren’t good people?
  You still haven’t defined wealthy or good. >
  
  Who says that people who own PS5s cannot feel pain?  
  I dispute that this happens. >
  
  I was giving an example that sounds stupid to us, but similar views happen all the time.
  For example, dozen of my wife's family still believes that if you are American and poor, then you're just lazy. They think America is an infinite bag overflowing with resources, but they have never been to a first world country and cannot imagine why anybody in America would be poor. After all, there is just money lying on the street, right?
  Millions of people who have never been to America think that just making it to America will automatically guarantee you wealth, and if you don't get wealth, you're just not trying.
  "Being in America protects you from poverty" is an absurd a view as believing that PS5's protect you from pain. >
  
  most poor people in America are lazy. if you can get here and are willing to work hard you probably wont be rich but you will almost certainly be able to afford 3 hots and a cot and probably a nice cell phone and computer/ps5/whciever entertainment device of your choice. which makes you rich compared to any one not in atleast a second world country >
  
  Okay so as someone who's considered themselves pretty privileged but has made friends and interacted with people of varying privilege I think you're just lashing out. I hear you tho, some of my best friends are what people would consider some of the most privileged people out there, and when they open up to me about what they're going through I understand that the feelings they have, the emotions they're going through are just as real as under privileged people, the only differences is the source. Depression, anxiety, stress, despair is real no matter where they're coming from but you have to understand that right now, we're not prioritizing you. 
  Think of it as Maslow Hierarchy of needs. If you're considered privileged you might be struggling with the middle blocks, a sense of belonging, companionship and confidence however you have to understand that while those are all serious topics, there are other people struggling with things more critical and time sensitive things, like where they're next meal is coming from or if they have access to clean drinking water and shelter for the night from the elements or other people, all things your privilege lets you not worry about. Once we can get everyone to that standard then the majority of us can focus on your issues. And it's not like there isn't people out there who aren't focused on the issues you're struggling with, there are but if you're demanding equal focus and attention from people trying to help out of less fortunate than you okay you made your point you're recognized and acknowledged but people have more pressing issues to deal with >
  
  Lol, what?
  How can average person empathize or understand the feelings of privilege people like Jeff Bezos.
  The dude already has more money than you could possibly spend in multiple lifetimes. But he still feels the need to make employees piss in Gatorade bottles so he can squeeze a few more pennies into his bottom line.
  Also OP is obviously like 12 because their example was a PS5 which is not even expensive if we are taking about wealthy people.
  Rich people can spend $600 on dinner. >
  
  As far as I'm aware, and I am not aware on this topic, but I believe that Bezos' biological dad got in touch with him after some time and Bezos doesn't want a relationship with him. This I can empathize with him about. 
  Take it case by case issue, empathy shouldn't just be blanketed. >
  
  
  Take it case by case issue, empathy shouldn't just be blanketed.
  
  Let me test your logic. Should we feel empathy for Hitler because his father was harsh and distant during his childhood? Should we also feel empathy for him because he was traumatized when his mother died of cancer when he was 17?
  Edit: it really says a lot about people to downvote a perfectly legitimate and important question. >
  
  Yep.
  Edited to add more:
  I do believe in empathy in cases like this 100%. Empathy doesn't mean forgiveness or that they get a pass. It's just an understanding about someone's plight or even success. To understand where they're coming from, how they got to where they are. Sam Harris goes into this more in his book Free Will. It literally made me think about empathy in a different way. >
  
  
  Yep.
  
  Would you give this sort of advice to the people who got severely hurt by Hitler's actions? Would you tell oppressed people to feel empathy towards their oppressors? >
  
  Also, empathy doesn't mean that you change your personal feelings about something. It just means that you're able to understand and/or feel someone else's feelings even if it's not the same as yours. >
  
  
  Also, empathy doesn't mean that you change your personal feelings about something. It just means that you're able to understand and/or feel someone else's feelings
  
  If you are able to feel other people's feelings, then by definition you are changing your personal feelings. >
  
  No. lol. I don't think this at all. >
  
  If you start to share the same feelings as other people, how does that not alter your positions or personal feelings about them? >
  
  Starting to get the feeling privilege people are really paranoid about their privilege and resent being called out for it while still enjoying the benefits of said privilege. >
  
  Different lives, different trauma. >
  
  Who Tf is saying that because you have a ps5 you can’t feel pain? I swear privileged people be making shit up (and I am someone who doesn’t have a ps5) >
  
  If you are a westerner, then you are privileged. >
  
  I have no problem admitting my empathy has limits. We all suffer. So many people just want to stack their suffering as some sort of badge of honor or treat it like a competition. And yes my empathy for the rich is very slim. My reasoning is you are on another sphere of reality when you are in the upper class, and many of the people who make absurd amounts of money have zero sympathy from those they exploit to get rich, so it is very easy for me to say 'fuck you, suck it up'. My limit of empathy for them is when someone loses a loved one tragically. No one deserves that pain, but that's where it stops for me. So I agree with your assessment completely. I am not ashamed to admit it either. >
  
  It sounds like you are jealous, that's all >
  
  You can empathize their behavior and understand why rich people may seem snoby, arrogant, selfish, self-seeking, and conceited. 
  But, it doesn't excuse their behavior or actions. I get money can corrupt someone, so I can empathize how they became an ugly person morally, by living materialistic and selfishly. >
  
  Empathy is a very badly used term. It's basically putting yourself in the shoes of anyone regardless of the fact you like them or not. 
  You are empathetic, for instance, if you try to understand Donald Trump by trying to think like him and understand his reasons, passions, fears, strengths and weaknesses in his acts. If you believe that empathy is all about being compassionate towards a poor or a weak person, you are simply wrong. >
  
  Have you ever seen a sad person on a jetski? -tosh.0 >
  
  Empathy doesnt always lead to sympathy. Im sure most people can understand the struggles of others. Theres many reasons why someone may not actually sympathize with that person though.
  Maybe the person is an asshole who spites everyone around them. Maybe their troubles are self inflicted. Like generosity, sympathy is expected to be reciprocated on some level. People who recieve little sympathy from a group are a lot less likely to have sympathy for that group.
  Its not hard to imagine why the poor have little sympathy for the plights of the rich. Poor folk are constantly gaslit. They are told that they are only poor because they are lazy or something. Surely it has nothing to do with a system designed to exploit them. Why would someone sympathize with their abusers? >
  
  Elon be posting hard today. >
  
  i can’t even imagine the problems that rich people have, like omg i’m so stressed bc i don’t know if we should vacation in the south of france vs the south of italy this year!?!
  sorry i work 75hrs/wk, have a dog with uncontrolled diabetes, and am lucky if i get to take one small 3day weekend trip in any given year. >
  
  Being rich doesn’t solve every problem and rich ppl can still have hard times it’s just it’s hard to care when the wealthy create such a separation from normal ppl and especially the poor it’s hard to understand a privileged persons point of you when they’re struggles seem minuscule compared to those who are barely make bills/rent >
  
  Isn't the whole idea of empathy being able to relate to their pain due to personal experience? Why would someone empathise with someone who is privileged if they, themselves are not? >
  
  Everyone experiences pains and the ups and downs of life.
  Privileged people just have better resources to deal with those experiences. >
  
  When we empathize, we attempt take on someone else's perspective. When we do that, we come to better understand the nature of their struggle and the source of their suffering. The aspect of empathy we often ignore is how it forces us to reflect on our own relationship in that suffering. When we empathize with someone, we may sometimes discover the difficult truth that we bare some responsibility for their suffering. Or, that we have the means to alleviate it. When we come to that reality, yet refuse to change the conditions of our lives in a way that reduces the other's pain, is that truly empathy?
  That is the difference. If a rich person were to truly empathize with the suffering of the poor person, they need to be prepared to possibly discover that it's in fact their own foot on the other's neck. If that is the reality, yet that person does nothing to change it--that is not an empathetic person. To even see someone suffer and to have all the means by which to alleviate it, yet choose not to--that is not an empathetic person.
  The rich are the ones breaking themselves out of this social contract. The poor, by reserving the right to resent them, are merely respecting their decision.
  ​
  tl;dr: Empathy is not just some lofty feeling, or virtue. Empathy demands responsibility. That responsibility is always a higher burden on the person who has the means to alleviate suffering. >
  
  Absolutely agree, people let their  jealousy get the best of them. >
  
  People with money can usually afford to alleviate the pain they're in, whether that's therapy, traveling, splurging on their interests, etc. - that doesn't make their pain invalid or fake. I can empathize with their pain while acknowledging that they have the means to do something about it.   
  EDIT: Example - I can deeply empathize with the loss of a grandparent, having lost two grandparents and my great-grandmother. However, somebody with money (which is not a resource I have a lot of) can help manage their grief relating to that loss with things much better than I can. >
  
  As soon as OP mentioned PS5 being the epitome of wealth I knew they had to be like 14 max >
  
  I'm actually old enough to have played the commodore 64 in its prime. Yesterday, I was just trying to wrap around my head that we can now play nintendo entertainment system games IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND, something very few kids would have imaged to be able to do in the 1980's.
  Like, if you could play classic nintendo games for free on a portable device.....what would you do with all that power?! It's almost too much to imagine! >
  
  Nobody says stupid things like that >
  
  Lots of people say stupid things like that. >
  
  Example? >
  
  Any privilege is cherry picked to suit the narrative. I'm told I'm privileged and lucky cause I live in a nice house and have nice things. 
  I didn't grow up privileged, nor was anything gifted to me. But I still appear privileged from the outside. Apparently.
  Edit: Empathy exists regardless >
  
  Most people don’t even know empathy hence we have this problem with people judging others  without knowing their struggles to get there >
  
  Like I said in another thread, Reddit hates people with any amount of privilege. >
  
  It's not that those of us less, errr, wealthy who can't understand the thoughts and feelings of the wealthy, but the inverse. The issues faced by the wealthy are often issues us less wealthy would love to have or simply don't see as that bad a problem; where as the wealthy would find the simplest of problems for those of median wage inconceivable. That the OPs own understanding is so narrow, in addition to the well-off agreeing so heartily, is evidence of this. The wealthy, or even affluent, live in a bubble. It's not their fault, it's just all they know. >
  
  Nah, I'm not empathetic for people who refuse to accept they got where they are due to being born into a rich country. If you can't acknowledge that and realize how lucky you are compared to billions of other people you're just an ass hat. Be offended. >
  
  who says they dont? >
  
  People who get upset about being told they're privileged are almost certainly privileged. You think anyone is going to tell some artisanal miner in Africa they're privileged? >
  
  did you mean to reply to another message? i was just saying that lots of privileged people do acknowledge they are privileged >
  
  OP is complaining about being told they're privileged. I'm saying if you complain about it, there's a really good chance you're privileged. >
  
  People care too much about being objective and neutral and fair.
  Instead we should strive to be good and do right. Let’s dehumanize the wealthy by withdrawing empathy AND THEN eat them >
  
  Sounds like eating them with extra steps. >
  
  Imagine having more time (rich people live longer than poor people on average) and resources at your disposal to deal with your own emotions and then feeling entitled to poor peoples empathy. Everyone has feelings, but nobody is entitled to have anyone care about them. That’s what makes having relationships and people who do care about you so special. This post reeks, dude. >
  
  Ok so fuck poor people as well then right? Because they’re not entitled to any empathy,nor are they entitled to the care of others. >
  
  I suppose not. I’m not particularly wealthy, but I don’t expect others to care about my emotional well being or empathize with me. I’ve worked myself out of homelessness without panhandling, etc.
  However, there is a huge difference between having compassion and having empathy. It’s hard to have compassion for rich people, because they don’t really need it. They have everything they need. It’s also hard to have empathy for rich people when you’ve never been rich, because it usually takes one to know one. If you don’t know what’s it like to live without crippling stress you won’t really empathize with people who do, and vice versa.
  Poor people need compassion because they don’t always have everything they need. I don’t know why people always demonize poor people. I mean, we’re not doing anything to you. If anything, I just wish people would live their best lives, even if it’s better than mine, instead of complaining about having negative emotions. Most people have them, regardless of circumstance or resources. I don’t wish for anyone to know what it feels like to nearly die of starvation, hypothermia, dehydration, exhaustion, etc., but rich people seem to desperately expect empathy from those who have no idea what it’s like being them, without actually providing them any valuable insight or compassion. >
  
  Is this in response to the other post earlier in the subreddit?  Because this was basically my comment on that thread, and so I wholeheartedly agree with this.  Everyone has different privileges and disadvantages and just because you are privileged in one area (as everyone is) doesn’t mean we cannot be empathetic when something bad happens to someone else, regardless of their perceived level of privilege (or disadvantage).
  And once again the whingy, bratty, jealous little children in the comments are flocking to this like a herd of devouring locusts with their inane “oh you must be a privileged white man, stfu” comments and completely missing the point.  Colour me shocked.  Congratulations on showing everyone you are selfish and uncaring (while also simultaneously expecting others to care about you because of your disadvantages). >
  
  
  Everyone has different privileges and disadvantages and just because you are privileged in one area (as everyone is)
  
  This is a very dishonest false equivalency.
  
  doesn’t mean we cannot be empathetic when something bad happens to someone else,
  
  That would depend on what kind of bad things happening and who it happens to. I couldn't give a flying fuck if something very horrible happened to Mohammad bin Salman, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George Bush, Bill Clinton, John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, Benjamin Netanyahu, Narendra Modi, Jeff Bezos, the Sackler Family, the Koch family, the Mars family, the Walton family, and many other morally corrupt people in positions of power and privilege. OP has a lot of nerve to lecture destitute, underprivileged people about the importance of empathy. >
  
  It’s not a dishonest false equivalency, it’s a truth you don’t like, and your examples are nonsense.  You also have no idea what OP’s situation is, so I think you have a lot of nerve to say they cannot speak on this.  Congratulations on being part of the problem. >
  
  
  It’s not a dishonest false equivalency,
  
  You are implying that everyone shares different yet equivalent advantages and disadvantages in life. That is a highly dishonest false equivalency.
  
  it’s a truth you don’t like,
  
  It's a lie* that I don't like.
  
  and your examples are nonsense.
  
  My examples are highly relevant. Those are the kinds of privileged people whom the underprivileged are raging/bitching about.
  
  You also have no idea what OP’s situation is, so I think you have a lot of nerve to say they cannot speak on this.
  
  OP explained very clearly what his situation is. He is not being oppressed.
  
  Congratulations on being part of the problem.
  
  No, YOU are part of the problem. You are spewing this bullshit narrative that "everyone has their own shit, therefore everyone should share equal priorities of empathy".
  You are the one who can't face the truth that some people need more special treatment than others. Some people need to be placed higher on the empathy priority list than others. Spewing nonsense like "rich people deserve empathy too" is a blatant obfuscation and a slap to the face of destitute people who need help but don't have access. It's the equivalent of saying white/all lives matter. >
  
  We've known for thousands of years that money doesn't buy happiness. >
  
  Money doesn't buy happiness, but it does sell off some kinds of misery. >
  
  The whole idea of empathy is honestly a construct. No human is able to share in feelings they’ve never experienced in any accurate way. People can experience cognitive empathy by trying to imagine the situation and simulate an imagined idea of what the feeling may be like, but that gets harder to do when you have no reference point. >
  
  You poor baby. >
  
  Most people only have empathy for things they can understand or experience themselves.
  Most rich people can't understand the far reaching effects of financial struggles and poor people often falsely believe money is some magic cure all to your problems. >
  
  You'd be surprised >
  
  Most of the time the feelings of privileged people show up as.....complaining about something that is their fault, could have been avoided, or brings them to the level of the rest of us. >
  
  Examples? >
  
  -mr beast >
  
  ....who thinks owning a playstation means you can't feel pain? I don't think anyone thinks that lmao >
  
  Empathy by its definition has to limitation to who hurts the worse, an example that would support the examples provided is how people feel about investment crimes that investors lose out on. Sure the people who lost money didn't lose the same amount as those less off but they still a victim of a crime, and the trend of people overseeing that is cringe. >
  
  I agree.
  Like, although I do laugh about the memes and kind of hold a little grudge because of how overboard they went, but wouldn't have we been like the boomers we so enjoy to criticize if we were in their shoes? With full employment, low prices, lots and lots of resources to take from...we'd just have sucked dry resources and pumped sweet greenhouse gases in astronomical amounts just as they did. >
  
  I'm sorry, I don't have much to say about the topic, but I'm just laughing at the idea that owning a PS5 is a form of "privilege" 😂 >
  
  I guess I somewhat agree. However, as a privileged person, I just don’t complain about my problems to, or seek validation from, people other than those I’m genuinely close to. I honestly don’t need a bunch of strangers’ sympathy and I wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t have sympathy for my problems.