>
>Racists weep when those they consider to be their own
>are injured but coldly disregard the plight of
>untermensch. They selectively empathize. Don't we
>all?
>
>
>
Yes, and the selection is based on language (symbols) that designates
some to be human, and some not.
"The U.S. is not a land of cold symbol manipulation but of freely flowing sentimentality and unrestrained emoting."
Which is entirely manipulated through the media by means of, well, symbols. As you say:
"Symbols were being manipulated but they were symbols designed to inspire a sub-rational response."
Yes, we are not meant to respond to actual suffering in the Middle East. The suffering is only there to justify further violence and terror on our part. Not exactly the meaning of empathy.
Joanna