The cat has no sympathy for the mouse; the Romans had no sympathy for any animals except elephants; the Nazis have none for Jews, and Stalin had none for kulaks. Where there is limitation of sympathy there is a corresponding limitation in the conception of the good... All these are cat-and-mouse ethics.
Source: Power, a new social analysis, 1938, by Bertrand Russell
More info.: https://russell-j.com/beginner/POWER15_250.HTM
* a brief comment:
When someone nearby is in sorrow, we naturally wonder, "What has happened?" and feel sympathy or compassion toward them -- this is part of what it means to be human.
Yet each of us comes into contact with only a small number of people in our daily lives. Ordinary citizens rarely get to know more than a few people well in the course of a single day.
Politicians, by contrast, meet large numbers of people every day, but the number who leave a lasting memory or impression is at most two or three.
Such limited interaction will not make the world a more peaceful place. That is why schools teach students about the societies, histories, cultures, and national characters of countries around the world, in an effort to promote mutual understanding and thereby reduce conflicts born of ignorance.
World leaders have long emphasized the importance of fostering such mutual understanding. Yet, since the rise of President Trump, political leaders who shout slogans such as "America First," "Germany First," and "Japanese First" (note: the slogan of the Japanese political party Sanseito, which deliberately uses "Japanese First" rather than "Japan First") have been appearing one after another.
President Trump repeatedly chants "America First," behaving domestically as if he were a dictator or king, and internationally as if he were an imperialist.
It feels as though history is moving backward. Or are we all merely having a bad dream?
* Amazon Gift Card
