JD Trout says we must be our brother's keeper.
The Loyola University philosopher is leading charges that “empathetic politics” will narrow the gap between rich and poor. Trout agrees with the current sentiment that the United States government has an “empathy deficit” and he wrote a book called The empathy gap calling us to a new era of empathy. He writes a blog called “The greatest good” this calls for things like putting more supermarkets in poor neighborhoods.
Oh, and he hasn’t spoken to his brother in about six years.
Trout’s view on brothers’ love was explored in a brief but precise interview in New York Times Magazine. In his interview, Trout advocates for a social policy in which Americans move away from the “hedonic vomitorium” of consumerism and toward a new commitment towards others.
What is the role of the church?
When asked why his book says nothing about the role of churches in caring for the poor, Trout responds: “The concerns addressed in the book – improving education, health care, livelihood above the poverty line – are too important to be left to the appellant. thank you for the charity. »But then the interview takes a personal turn.
Journalist Deborah Solomon asks the empathetic philosopher if he is her possess guardian of her brother, and specifies that she understands her real brother well. Trout admits he hasn’t spoken to his brother in years.
This answer is revealing, but not because of the particular details of the story. Trout’s brother looks like a horrible guy. He owns strip clubs and the philosopher (rightly) disapproves of how it treats women. The brother also didn’t want to come when Trout got home from college (too busy at the bars). What is telling is how the philosopher dismisses what appears to be his own lack of fraternity attire close to home, and what he indicates about the fact that we can all so easily do exactly the same thing.
Trout says his estrangement from his brother isn’t a big deal, even though he’s a national spokesman for empathy.
“In the biblical standard, I don’t read ‘brother’ to mean your blood brother,” he explains. “We have an obligation to give as many people as possible the opportunity to succeed, whether they are your own children or children otherwise invisible to you.”
It’s easy to shrug our shoulders and dismiss this “national spokesperson” as a hypocrite. But before that, notice one of the strategies of hypocrisy, because we are all vulnerable. Trout does not reject the idea of love and brotherhood. It is difficult for him to do this because these concepts are ingrained in his consciousness (Romans 2:12-16).
We are all vulnerable: we “struggle” to love the invisible rather than to love the visible.
Instead, he “fights” for love and empathy, but frames that as advocacy for government programs, not personal, local relationships back home. He is able to gain the felt experience of loving his brother by pleading for people who are “invisible” to him.
It certainly helps to love invisible people.
This is the reason why we often struggle in “The Family” by neglecting our children.
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