Empathy gap

Stuff backed up in my browser tabs…

After the long lines for voting in 2012 Obama appointed an commission to make recommendations to fix the problem. Last week they gave their report. It has many of the usual things in it: early voting, vote by mail, online registration, etc. There were also several line management ideas: hand out numbers to allow people to sit, have workers walk the line to take care of registration issues before people get to the front of the line.

Alas, the commission doesn't have any money to give to states to fix problems such as outdated equipment (or simply having enough equipment). It didn't address such GOP hot-button items such as voter ID laws. And it can only recommend solutions and only persuade Congress and state legislatures to implement the ideas. And some states, especially battlegrounds, the GOP likes the idea that some people have a hard time voting.



A state representative in Oklahoma is proposing the state do away with all marriages -- at least not have the state recognize any marriage. That way it won't be illegal to ban gay marriages. Let's see, how many straight couples are willing to give up state marriage benefits or find they are only civil-unioned?



I didn't realize that Utah and Oklahoma are both a part of the 10th Circuit Court. In this court a random three-judge panel has been assigned to hear the Utah marriage equality case. The 10th Circuit has combined that case with the one from Oklahoma. So if these three judges rule in favor of marriage equality and the Supremes decline to hear the case then marriage equality comes to the entire 10th Circuit -- OK, KS, NM, CO, UT, WY.



Bloomberg News reports that sales of razor blades used in shaving have dropped 7.8%. The reason is the greater interest in beards. One response is some guys are shaving other parts of their bodies (definitely not for me), boosting razor sales in compensation. Another is guys are allowing beards to grow because razors have gotten so expensive.



Sean McElwee of Demos Policyshop wrote about our changing view of the poor. There has always been an aspect of cruelty in our portrayal of the poor. Treating them as morally corrupt allows us to justify our place in society. But we've gone from LBJ's "Poverty is not a trait of character," to McGovern getting tough on welfare, to Clinton promising and succeeding to "end welfare as we know it."

Why the change? With widening inequality the rich have separated from the poor and have no idea how the poor live. We have an empathy gap. Alas, a drop in empathy means a drop in trust. And that slows the economy and makes reducing inequality harder, creating a downward spiral.