Empathy is a fundamental weakness of our civilization? No, it’s cruelty that hurts us | Opinion

Empathy should be preserved

In a recent Joe Rogan interview, Elon Musk said empathy is “the fundamental weakness of Western civilization.”

The AP just reported on fired federal workers whose own family members cheered their termination.

I can’t think of a better way to describe my disconnect with the current administration.

Fraud in government should be addressed, and if conservative Idahoans disengaged from social media, they’d find liberals agree. But where I differ from Elon is that it’s a greater sin to harm someone in need than to accidentally help someone who isn’t.

Our weakness isn’t too much empathy — it’s too little.

We ask, “What did this program do for me?” “Did the Ukrainians say thank you?” “Is USPS delivery to rural communities a good return on investment?”

We treat basic community support like socialism, abandoning the public good to be run like a business.

Life’s value isn’t measured in dollars but in how we treat one another. Your neighbors—maybe even you—are struggling. Food is expensive. Housing is outrageous. Let’s not tear down what support systems exist or celebrate job losses.

Empathy should not be a political position.

We are all in this together. Just because Washington lost sight of that doesn’t mean we should.

John Anthony Barrie, Boise

Medicaid cuts aren’t reform

I am opposed to the current bills calling themselves “Medicaid reform.” I have many objections to attempts to restrict access to medical care for lower-income people.

I can’t help but wonder about the motives of those proposing restrictions. I am especially dismayed by the radiant smile of Rep. Jordan Redman. I wonder if he would display that radiant smile in a medical clinic when a person with a low income was told that because of Rep. Redman’s bill, they could not receive medical care for an illness. It is common knowledge that many serious illnesses are more easily treated if they are discovered early. People with no health coverage are likely to postpone getting treatment until their illness has progressed past the early stage.

The woman who finds a lump in her breast may not get treatment until breast cancer has spread throughout her body because she doesn’t have the money to seek early treatment.

I can picture Rep. Redmam’s beaming smile as he stands beside the doctor who has to tell a woman that her stage four breast cancer would not have been a death sentence if she would have had early treatment.

Horrifying.

Kathy Zuckerman, Boise

I am not a paid protester

I’m a worried American. The Republican party’s response for the negative blowback from constituents about DOGE actions is to dismiss the protests, cancel town halls and stifle feedback, dismissing it as an “outsider campaign.” The anger from voters is organic and real. Tools such as the 5 Calls App do not create the opinion, they help folks channel their disapproval in a productive way.

Our representatives need to listen to their citizens’ intent, even if they rely on help from a script. It may be the first phone call to their congressperson they’ve made.

I suspect that Republicans feel just fine when their far-right extremist voters use calling tools and talking points.

Americans are deeply unhappy with the chaos and random, cruel dismantling of needed programs. Congress needs to start listening.

Amy Steckel, Boise

Dismantling public education

Trump is doing away with the Department of Education. I am not terribly upset about the policies handed down because the states have done a fairly decent job of that before. What I am very worried about is the fact that the Department of Education levels the playing field. It makes it so a child growing up in a town of 3,000 people and half the county is on BLM land stands a chance of getting as good an education as that growing up in a city of 200,000.

It will never be totally equal but more so.

We live in Idaho, mainly small-town. We rely heavily on the BLM, the Bureau of Reclamation, National Forest Service and myriad agencies that help our farmers. This administration understands none of that. Most of them were not even educated in our public schools.

Musk went to school in South Africa. He did not study our history, how our government works. He never stood and pledged allegiance to our flag with all his classmates and yet we are allowing him to demolish our infrastructure. It is time that we stand up as proud Idaho American citizens and tell them it’s enough.

Jamie Draper, Fruitland

Harming Idaho veterans

At the Boise Veterans Affairs hospital, the sign at the entrance reads “The Price of Freedom Is Visible Here.” Veterans deserve to be treated with the utmost dignity and respect, and to casually dismiss from employment any veteran and those who serve our veterans is a unique form of sickness.

Mary Feeny, Boise

Child care regs important

I have never heard of a child dying because they read a library book. Yet the legislature last year was so concerned about “materials harmful to minors” in public and private libraries that they passed legislation to keep those “harmful materials” away from children.

This year, legislators are about to pass legislation to deregulate child care centers, despite testimony that an 11-week-old child died in child care that did not meet the current regulations.

I leave it to readers to decide how concerned our legislators really are about the safety of Idaho’s children.

Mary Mosley, Meridian

Preserve the initiative

The ballot initiative process in Idaho is a vital tool for citizens to directly participate in shaping our laws and policies. However, recent legislative proposals threaten to undermine this constitutionally protected mechanism by imposing excessive restrictions, such as requiring signatures from all 35 legislative districts or granting the governor veto power over initiatives without a two-thirds majority.

These measures not only complicate an already rigorous process but also risk silencing the voices of Idahoans. The Idaho Supreme Court previously struck down similar restrictions, calling them a “tyranny of the minority”. Yet, some lawmakers persist in their attempts to curtail this fundamental right.

Idahoans must stand united against these efforts. Which is why I’m asking my legislators; Sen. Josh Keyser, Rep. Joe Palmer and Rep. James Holtzclaw, to stand up and be defenders of the Idaho Constitution by voting no on HB 85 and SJR 101. The initiative process belongs to the people, not politicians. Let’s protect it by rejecting efforts designed to undermine this cherished right.

Steven Groothuis, Meridian