As human beings we have all been moved by something. Emotionally moved. A team winning against the odds. An image of a toddler dead on a beach.
Do the emotions we each experience extend to all the human beings on planet earth? Probably not. It's hard to imagine 7 billion people and feel happy, sad or angry for each of them. |
But sometimes an image catches our attention and we feel emotionally moved about someone so distant we would never have met them in real life.
Every single human on earth has an individual story, with relationships and hardships of their own. Every human you meet will have felt an emotion. Some people have horrific images in their family histories. Traumas run deep across generations.
As humans we must have compassion for our fellow humans. Without compassion there is only drive and fear, and that combination has devastating effects on societies. |
Charities give us ways to show compassion for our fellow earth inhabitants in the areas we are most interested in or moved by. Children's charities. Illnesses. Animals. Arts.
Imagine if we could show compassion for all the humans in our local, national and global communities. For free. We'd do it, right?
Imagine if we could show compassion for all the humans in our local, national and global communities. For free. We'd do it, right?
We can. I'm sure you already know how. It's how we vote in elections.
Politicians have compassion for a lot of things and people. Many go into politics because they want to make the world better. The problem is, we have different ideas about which humans in our society deserve our compassion, and how best to give it. Politicians are the decision makers who we give the power to distribute compassion and other resources across society.
For conservative politicians, compassion and other resources are in limited supply. Competition breeds efficiency, they argue, so free markets and privatised public services are ideal. They say the "trickle down effect" means that when rich entrepreneurs benefit, the country's economy will benefit, spreading money and resources across society. |
This simply doesn't work. We live in a flawed world. Efficiency is an illusion because private companies are run by imperfect human beings with motivations to make as much profit as possible, without considering the compassion factor. So they can only really be efficient at trying to increase profits, not at delivering the actual services we need.
Say you won the lottery. Your new-found wealth wouldn't automatically trickle down to others. It's only if you felt particularly compassionate that you might give some to charity, family or friends.
The "trickle down effect" thus relies on compassion to spread wealth, but where is the incentive for business managers to be compassionate? Business incentives in unregulated markets are to make as much money and pay employees as little as possible. There's little compassion in this model. |
What really makes societies better is people caring for each other. Showing compassion for their fellow humans. Say you need extra leave to visit your son in hospital. Compassion makes the difference between hating and loving your employer, wanting to leave your job or wanting to stay until you retire. Profit margins, focusing on the short term, simply cannot account for the compassion factor.
People ask: "If I have worked hard to earn my money, why should I give some of it away for the public good?" This disregards the risks of being human. Say you have a highly paid job and savings. There is always a risk that something awful could happen. You could break your spine and need constant care. A family member could go off the rails. Any manner of things could happen you simply can't insure for.
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Even where you can, insurance companies have incentives to block paying for things so they make more profit.
The state provides a fall-back system so we can each lead a full life. That's part of why compassionate politicians advocate raising taxes and spending them on public services. Taxes are not a penalty for working hard. They provide a society-wide insurance policy to help each of us survive the ups and downs of life.
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So the "trickle down" and "hard work" arguments predominantly used by conservatives fail the compassion test. What's the alternative?
We might ask "But where do the resources come from for all this compassion? We have limited resources here on earth! We can't have it all!"
But here's the thing. By far the biggest resource we have is ourselves. It's our own work. Human labour is the most useful and most accessible resource in the world. Without our labour, nothing happens. There is no gold, oil, money. There is no economy. The labour of people who are able to work is effectively unlimited until we run out of strength, food or water. And, essentially, compassion is an unlimited resource.
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In a society where we work to support ourselves and each other, where we pay taxes to be distributed to those who need it most (not those who deserve it most, we are all equal human beings), we can produce enough resources to be both sustainable and compassionate. To look after the sick and to educate ourselves.
How? We can vote for politicians who want to spread compassion. Compassion for the many, not just for the few. Voting is quick. You can vote by post or in person. It doesn't cost any money. You can encourage others to vote. It makes a huge difference. Please vote. Compassionately.
Laura Oxley is a London-based writer with a PhD in global education and a three-year-old son. As a former teacher and civil servant she has a keen interest in politics.
To contact me please email laowr [at] tau . epsilon . org . uk