John Harris argues that empathy and compassion are increasingly treated as liabilities in politics, linking the trend to right-wing movements in the United States and Britain. He points to Reform UK Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick, who used the phrase “suicidal empathy” while promoting the party’s plan to cut welfare spending by 25% by 2030.
Harris traces the phrase to a book by Canadian academic Gad Saad, also titled Suicidal Empathy, which has an endorsement from Elon Musk. The article criticises the book’s arguments about immigration, pandemic restrictions and progressive politics, and describes it as reflecting ideas circulating among hard-line Maga supporters.
The commentary also cites polling by the Public Religion Research Institute. It found that 84% of registered Democrats agreed empathy helps build a healthy society, compared with 54% of Republicans. Among white evangelical Protestants, 42% viewed empathy as a foundational moral value, while 54% said it could be dangerous.
Harris contrasts this political framing with the historical role of Christian compassion. Drawing on historian Tom Holland’s account of early Christianity, he describes how care for vulnerable people, including orphans, widows and the sick, became part of emerging systems of social support.
The article argues that similar tensions are visible in Britain, where Harris connects current arguments over welfare and migration to a political tradition shaped in part by Margaret Thatcher. He concludes that a poor result for Republicans in the US midterms might unsettle those who reject empathy, but says Musk’s influence suggests an election result alone would not reverse the wider trend.
Sources: The Guardian Politics.