I sat and watched a German public TV program last night....dealing with politics, and a particular German figure (he would be one of the top ten German politicians). In the middle of the piece...they throw up a slide that was a poll....where they asked regular Germans about the empathy 'index' or rating they'd give the guy.
Curiously, of a 1-to-10 rating....he got mostly between a '3' and '4'....meaning they (the public) mostly didn't see empathic 'skills' at work. This would mean it's more difficult to sell the person to the public.
I paused over this. Traditionally....at least from the 1970s to 1990s....Germans were looking for someone who carried himself in debates....displayed some intellect and wisdom.
Definition of empathy? Well....the skill to display some emotion (real or fake) gives the audience/voters an understanding of what other people feel. If a regular person sees a recession....then even if you disagree and try to sell people into believing it's not a recession.....you at least give them some 'feeling' for their point of view. Yeah, you are in their shoes....so to speak.
In a German integration class....this empathy stuff was heavily discussed. At a break in the class....a Syrian with English skills engaged me on the topic. He simply said....in Syria.....this empathy stuff would be regarded as BS, and you would disregard the whole conversation. I paused over this talk and responded.....Germans want you to pretend you agree with them....even if you don't. Then I added...it's best to just nod your head and as much as they fake you out.....you need to fake them out.
This mention of the poll? Well....the network folks are mostly telling you that empathy matters....whether true or faked-up. All of this....left over from the Merkel era? You have to remember.....everything on the Merkel agenda...was always 'center-center'. There was no left-of-center or right-of-center. I suspect if you asked most German journalists....this is pretty important.
This 2025 election top topics? Well....I would offer the humble feeling that it's mostly over five topics: the economy, cost of energy, the war in Ukraine (either you are for Ukraine, or Russia), migration and social welfare (either to get more unemployed people working, or to improve the lifestyles of the welfare class).
2 comments:
Kind of ironic that the Syrian is a guest of the country due to the empathy of the people here.
My three observations over empathy: (1) You can max-out and have too much empathy....meaning you fall over yourself to be so agreeable and 'nice' to people. (2) It is possible for a propaganda unit to use your level of empathy against you and your standards of living. (3) When you finally lose your prospective over things...frustrated how trends went against you, don't count on the pro-empathy people to be there to pick you up.
The whole integration path for me...was more fascinating to see the non-German view of a heavily structured society. The word 'warum' (why) came up countless times a day...with half the times revolving around the answer...'it just is'.
Post a Comment