Haversack

At the end of the democracy dog-and-pony show, the organizers asked if any of the visiting journalists had a question. Not wanting to risk my visa, which allowed me to travel in Libya without an official minder, I held my tongue. Michael Slackman of the Times took the bait and politely asked Gaddafi — I can’t recall his exact words — how he could talk about democracy when his people so obviously lived in fear.

There was a flurry of distress around the Leader. His aides refused to translate the question. According to two people who worked closely with him, Gaddafi did in fact speak English, but he chose not to with most foreign visitors. In this case, it appeared he genuinely didn’t catch Slackman’s question. He looked from one aide to the other, confused, as the mood in the studio soured and we were moved into another room.

Nobody is against empathy. Nonetheless, it’s insufficient. These days empathy has become a shortcut. It has become a way to experience delicious moral emotions without confronting the weaknesses in our nature that prevent us from actually acting upon them. It has become a way to experience the illusion of moral progress without having to do the nasty work of making moral judgments. In a culture that is inarticulate about moral categories and touchy about giving offense, teaching empathy is a safe way for schools and other institutions to seem virtuous without risking controversy or hurting anybody’s feelings.

People who actually perform pro-social action don’t only feel for those who are suffering, they feel compelled to act by a sense of duty. Their lives are structured by sacred codes.

Think of anybody you admire. They probably have some talent for fellow-feeling, but it is overshadowed by their sense of obligation to some religious, military, social or philosophic code. They would feel a sense of shame or guilt if they didn’t live up to the code. The code tells them when they deserve public admiration or dishonor. The code helps them evaluate other people’s feelings, not just share them. The code tells them that an adulterer or a drug dealer may feel ecstatic, but the proper response is still contempt.

The code isn’t just a set of rules. It’s a source of identity. It’s pursued with joy. It arouses the strongest emotions and attachments. Empathy is a sideshow. If you want to make the world a better place, help people debate, understand, reform, revere and enact their codes. Accept that codes conflict.