I think I’ve figured something out that has been nagging at me for a year. Some people are only selectively empathetic. This sounds fine if you are “on their side”, so it’s easy to miss unless you look closer.
We should treat everyone with more respect, patience, and honesty. There are exceptions — people who have truly lost their way — but those are rare, far fewer than we tend to imagine. Most people are good, even the people we disagree with.
I haven’t done everything completely right over the last year, but I do think I’ve stayed pretty close to this ideal. I’ll keep holding myself to it.
