Empathy Challenge

Artist Notes

Empathy is a noun that means “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” Unfortunately right now we are in the middle of a pandemic caused by Covid-19. The first case was reported in China on December 31, 2020 and was declared a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” on January 30, 2020. But how does all that relate to empathy? Well, there is a divide between people right now. Some people seem to only be watching out for themselves by doing something called panic buying, where they are stocking up on what they need, not leaving really anything left for others. While other people are doing the opposite and only buying what they need and making sure everyone else has something.

For the art portion I chose to do a water color painting with a quote by David Castro which reads, " I feel that aggravates the situation... his lack of empathy, his lack of remorse." That ties into the theme of empathy because Trump certaintly has a lack of empathy and remorse during this challenging time. An article published by CNN states that, "maybe, in tweeting about his ratings being on par with the season finale of ABC's 'The Bachelor', the president thinks this is some form of entertainment. All his 'people', he says, are becoming 'big stars', as if they are contestants on 'The Apprentice'". So it would seem that Trump, the person who is supposed to being leading us through this uncertain time cares more about the ratings on his briefings than giving us peace of mind.

Now maybe our society would have a bit of empathy for each other, if our leader, also known as our president, exemplified empathy himself because “bottom line: Followers do better when their leaders have empathy!” He seems more concerned right now with all the attention he has been getting and shifts the blame to other people. Washington Post stated that, “empathic leadership also serves the purpose of reassuring vulnerable people.” Which is true, if someone who is supposed to be our leader through this difficult time showed a little bit of empathy, we would feel that he is maybe on our side instead of letting us basically fend for ourselves. The Washington Post also states that, “... we have witnessed the total failure of empathy in presidential leadership.” Had he shown even the slightest bit of empathy, as a society we may have been better off. The Philadelphia Inquirer said that, “Trump has seen a lot of tragedy but he never can find the right words to say. He tends to marvel at the size of the loss- because size matters to him- or he praises the ‘tough guys’ such as firefighters or cops because he can relate to that, if not personally. But the agony of someone feels when they lost a loved one is a place he does not want to go.”

While Covid-19 is stressing everyone out and we are not getting much out of our president, knowing the right information and how to prevent ourselves from getting sick can help calm our fears a bit. The virus is spread “through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks.” But it is also said that people who are asymptomatic, meaning they have no symptoms, can spread the virus. Also, people who are elderly or have underlying medical conditions are at higher risk of developing complications due to the virus. There are ways we can protect ourselves, by washing your hands often, practicing social distancing and limiting travel to only essential travel.

In the end, this is a tough time for everyone and while our president is failing as being a good example of being empathetic that does not mean as a society we should follow his examples. We should be kind and empathic to everyone because we are all in this together and we will make it out of this.

Work Cited

“Empathy, Leadership and the Coronavirus”. Fisher.osu.edu, 2020 https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/leadreadtoday/blog/empathy-leadership-and-the-coronavirus/ Accessed 19 April 2020

“We’ve officially witnessed the total failure of empathy in presidential leadership”. Washingtonpost.com, 2020 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/america-needs-empathetic-leadership-now-more-than-ever/2020/04/02/1f6935f2-750c-11ea-87da-77a8136c1a6d_story.html Accessed 19 April 2020

“Trump’s utter lack of grief, empathy is the coronavirus dog that didn’t bark”. Inquired.com, 2020 https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/trump-coronavirus-lack-empathy-grief-narcissism-20200409.html Accessed 20 April 2020

CDC.gov, 2020 https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html Accessed 20 April 2020

"President Trump's coronavirus briefings lack a crucial element: Empathy". cnn.com https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/30/politics/borger-column-trump-empathy/index.html Accessed 3 May 2020