Comment by FloorEgg
It seems that way (re empathy as a luxury) but I don't think it's true.
Empathy builds cooperation and biases towards game theory optimal, which increases chances of survival and furniture thriving.
It doesn't seem like this right now, because all our luxuries are built on momentum enabled by past empathy.
In fact it's the lack of empathy (and curiosity) for others that is causing more suffering and an increasing trend towards lose-lose dynamics, it's just hard to see because the scale across people, time and space is so vast.
Like everything else (reality as vibrations), it seems that global empathy oscillates up and down across generations, with a long-term trend upwards.
So I don't think empathy is a luxury, empathy enables luxury. It's just hard to see past the silver spoon narcissists and collective victim mentality in the current context. I'm optimistic more empathy is in our future, even if not short or medium term.
Well said. There's an odd suspicion of empathy at this point (even some right-wing Christians calling empathy evil which is really odd considering what the founder of their religion taught). There's so much grievance on all sides that's being fueled by various media outlets and algorithms. Grievance says "I've been uniquely wronged". And it leads to giving up on empathy so as to get even.