Do you guys think Trump is capable of empathy for our enemies?

So I know that most people here, myself included, don't like Trump, but put your differences with him aside for a moment if you would and simply give me your assessment of his ability to empathize with our country's enemies. That is to say, how well do you think Trump can look at the situation our country's enemies are in and be able to understand the situation from their point of view? What's your evidence for why you believe this to be the case?

Furthermore, to Trump's supporters, do you even care if he does this at all?

Do you think President Obama had empathy for our enemies?

What's your evidence for why you believe this to be the case?

Do you think Trump has empathy for our enemies?

I didn't want to influence other people's thoughts with my own regarding Trump so I'll refrain for now on that matter.

As for Obama, I hadn't thought about examples, but he did get several deals internationally including China on climate change and Iran on nukes. I'd say the ability to get deals utilizing diplomacy shows some ability for empathy or at the very least having employed people with the ability for empathy.

Hahahahahaha

He said he wants to go after the families of terrorists.

No, no he does not have empathy for his enemies.

Oh, China and Iran. I thought you were talking about empathizing with ISIS or something.

Making deals, dealing with adversaries isn't much about empathizing but more about realpolitik/ doing what is in the best interest of the United States.

"simply give me your assessment of his ability to empathize"

Virtually none. I think his ability to put himself in other's shoes is very limited.

This is a skill I take for granted but realize more and more that it isn't as prevalent as I previously thought.

@Master_Live: ISIS and other direct combatants would be good as well in theory, but generally speaking I mean people Trump will have direct talks with.

I think Trump will try to achieve what he think it is in the best interest of the United States and look to make deals with hostile actors when possible.

As for the specific as if he has empathy for our enemies, I don't know, I just think he is a selfish, petty and hollow man with no moral compass.

Obama had no empathy for families he destroyed by having the most deportations in Presidential history, screwing us over with GMO laws after promising to make the food industry transparent, and drones.

So your answer to my question about Trump is to state how terrible Obama was. Awesome.

@Serraph105: Obama's presidency is something that can be analyzed instead of speculating about Trump's feelings. Presidents usually don't have empathy for their enemies.

No. Only thing that matters to him is himself...and the things that are extensions of himself.

I hope not, empathy means you know what they are going through from first-hand experience. I really, really, really hope our president does not know that.

But sympathy? yeah I hope he has a little sympathy...

Why would you have empathy for terrorists? There is literally zero reason they could give that would condone the actions they do.

The best leaders possess great empathy. If you can't stay on topic go make a different one.

@mrbojangles25: I can't find that definition, and it's counter to the use I've heard for years. What definition are you using?

No, empathy is being able to put yourself in someone's shoes and attempting to feel the emotions that they are experiencing. No actual experience of another person's life is required.

To answer TC's question, no. If he should be feeling empathy for anyone it should be for the American people. Why should it matter, can you give examples of leaders that do show empathy towards their enemies?

I was always taught that empathy is sympathy but through shared experience, guess I was wrong. Like soldiers would have empathy, even if they were enemies. They might not be sympathetic, but they could still be empathetic.

I think I got the gist of it right, I just took it a little too literal lol.

Either way, I don't think Trump would have empathy for anyone but another rich prick. Maybe not even then...

He can't even empathize with American citizens. He's literally trying to take health insurance away from 24 million people, claiming it will be better for everyone. That's like the entire population of Florida. Seems like the only people he can empathize with are the Russians.

Do you think the enemies of America and the free world is able to empathise with the kids who were killed by a suicide bomber in Manchester?

But nice try with the bait.

I don't view terrorists as great leaders even if they convince people to do shit.

For the record I'm not baiting anyone. Look into empathy in leaders.

Then answer the question.

Do you think the enemies of America and the free world is empathising with their victims? the 8 year old who died after having done nothing but go out and enjoy a pop concert.

I personally hope that Trump and any western leader does not have an ounce of empathy left and use what they have for the victims instead.

I think the OP's question is a bit dumb really, if you labeled someone as your enemy, you are unlikely to have empathy for them in most situations. The real question should be about having empathy for the innocent victims that we hurt going after our enemies. They are pretty much forgotten about as people don't want to care.

I don't think you understand how empathy can be used to win battles and war. Empathy does not necessarily mean sympathy or even compassion. If you see a terrorist group killing innocent people and you think that they should die because of it then you are probably correct. If that's all you want however you will likely never get at the root cause of the problem, and you will likely continue to see violent acts that you will only ever be reactive to. If however, you want to stop a violent group from committing crimes in the future or stop a world leader from sending in troops you will want to know what is making them effective or what that horrible leader wants, or what makes him tick. To do this you must empathize or see things from their point of view, and once you do you can utilize that information to resolve ongoing conflicts.

If everything I said to you just now was exactly how you already viewed empathy, perhaps you could explain to me why you don't view it as important in an effective leader.

@Nick3306: read my post above to Jacanuk.

@Serraph105:

+1

Empathy does not necessarily mean excusing them or feeling sorry for them. It means understanding them, at least to a degree, by looking at things from their viewpoint.

No, I do not believe Trump is capable (and if he is, willing) of feeling empathy for anyone, much less our enemies. He is a selfish, self-absorbed narcissist of the highest degree who is wrapped up in his own worldview and persona. To hold empathy for another, you have to be willing to place yourselves in their shoes and look at things from their perspective, and that requires a degree of relinquishing one's ego and own worldview. Trump, by all indications, is incapable of doing such a thing just because of who he is. He cannot operate on any level unless he is part of the equation.

Empathy shouldn't be used to hide enemy's actions.

@Serraph105: let me try to take it a step farther by making what I said relevant and spot on topic. Bush didn't show empathy with torturing his terrorist enemies. The trend continues. US presidents displays signs of apathy against their enemies. In order to answer you're question will Trump have empathy I am using past presidents as examples.

Can you understand someone at 22 carrying a bomb and walking into a pop concert with kids and blowing themselves up?`because i sure as hell can´t understand that anyone can be that insane, even if they as his family tried to explain but him seeing atrocities and dead children in Libya.

I can´t even see it from their point of view, neither would i even want to.

Sure it can help to understand your enemy , don't worry i have read Sun Tzu. And the cause? , it´s not a conventional war, you can´t get to the cause of fundamentalism , it´s a war where the enemy is hiding among us and can be your neighbour or the classroom mate you had back in grade school.

But the way you describe empathy is not something i want in any leader, i want them to have common sense and be intelligence to see them for what they are. Which are pests who need to be eradicated.

I would say that no he does not. To me he comes across as a self absorbed egotistical bully.

I doubt he has empathy for fellow Americans.

That is because you dont have a full grasp on how big of an impact ones culture and upbringing has on a person. To be fair, it isn't exactly easy to understand when you are on the other side of it. Basically for their entire lives these people have been told that america is horrible so they grew up believing that. It also doesnt help that they can actively see us bombing their countries and killing innocent civilians while we do it. If you grew up there, you would most likely believe in the same ideals. People in the west think they are superior and would never do such a thing if they were born there but that idea is ignorant at best. It is literally all they know. This is what makes wars due to cultural differences so hard when it comes to peace talks, no one side truly understands the other.

No one thinks they are the bad guy, even most ISIS members believe they are doing the right thing.

Just so you know the kid was raised in the uk he only went to libya with his dad on extended holidays, . And i have plenty of muslim friends who never turned out as shitheads like he did.

Also as i said i have no wish to even understand them, and if i could i would go do another tour to make sure they pay. Since there is no reasoning with religious fanatics.

@Jacanuk: Being unable to empathize or unwilling to do so is a weakness that shrinks your worldview and limits your understanding/ability to resolve problems.

You should develop that skill rather than proudly hold up the resulting self imposed ignorance.

@Jacanuk: Your thoughts suggest that you are effectively content with reacting to bad situations rather than be proactive in trying to prevent those situations from happening in the first place.

That's not to say we can prevent anything bad from ever happening, but if we know the root cause of why something bad is occurring, we can use that information to put a true stop to it in the future.

Why would anyone feel for their enemies? The only emotion you should have is joy when they lay ruined at your feet. As for anyone who isn't my enemy, depends on the situation.

Problem is that we can´t be proactive, we are talking religious people here and there is no reason involved. It's all based on their believe.

So while sure we can look for signs of radical behaviour , the world we live in makes it so that people are free to believe or act within a society's limits how they see fit, like the nuts who took over a national park or the occupy wall street/BLM movement.

But with that said i want leaders and i have empathy for troubled people , until they step over a limit like this. Once they become mass murderers they have lost the right to be called humans. And also any kind of empathy from world leaders.

I agree that most, if not all, attempts to reason with a violent religious fanatacist is basically a fool's errand. The logical thing to do in my mind is to take measures to prevent more people from turning towards becoming fanatical about their religion. You have to look at what the various common denominators in the lives of religious fanactics that may have made them become that way in the first place, and like most things you won't be able to stop people completely from becoming fanatics, but you could limit their numbers which would, in turn, limit their power. In essence you have to look at fanatacism as a symptom rather than the root cause.

No.... And that's a good thing.

All bad deals for the United States.

Our enemies think of empathy as a weakness. They want us dead and anyone who doesn't believe as they do. They also want dead others who are of the same faith but a different belief in their faith dead. Only one way to deal with such people is to eliminate them and their belief.

I think we can rest assured that Putin has the ability to empathize with Trump and uses that ability to take advantage of him. One group of people that tend to have a great ability to empathize with others are bullies. Bullies can figure out what makes a person tick, and where people's sore spots are, but instead of using that ability to be kind to others they use it to hit those sore spots. Again, empathy should be seen as more of a tool to understand others better, but not necessarily tied to the sort of actions taken once an empathetic person does come to a better understanding of someone else as they can use that understanding to harm just as much as they can use it to help.

Here's an example of the way leaders of ISIS have utilized empathy, upon committing their various attrocities they came to the realization of us that we wish to fight back in powerful ways such as dropping bombs. Nowadays they use that understanding of us here in the US and abroad to essentially goad us into dropping bombs and starting new wars. What they certainly did not utilize the understanding of us that they figured out due to empathy was to try to make nice with us.

@Serraph105: "Again, empathy should be seen as more of a tool to understand others better."

Well said. Much better than my attempts.

Trump comes off as a sociopath much like Hillary Clinton.

Thank's man.

Who would have empathy for their enemies ever?

Examples:

- Let's have empathy towards North Korea, a country which is actively firing missiles at us and burning their own people alive.

- ISIS is literally killing Americans. They made their choice when they hurt our citizens. They must be eliminated.

Its very obvious why we shouldnt empathize with our enemies, and that kind of thinking is dangerous when it comes to protecting the US and its allies.