comment: >
  
  Have you ever seen a sad person on a jetski? -tosh.0
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.