A radical experiment in empathy Sam Richards

my students often ask me what is

sociology and I tell them it’s the study

of the way in which human beings are

shaped by things that they don’t see and

they say so how can I be a sociologist

how can I understand those invisible

forces and I say empathy start with

empathy it all begins with empathy take

yourself out of your shoes put yourself

into the shoes of another person here

I’ll give you an example so I imagine my

life if a hundred years ago China had

been the most powerful nation in the

world and they came to the United States

in search of coal and they found it and

in fact they found lots of it right here

and pretty soon they began shipping that

coal ton by ton railcar by railcar

boatload by boatload back to China and

elsewhere around the world

and they got fabulously wealthy in doing

so in they both beautiful cities all

powered on that coal and back here in

the United States we saw economic

despair deprivation this is what I saw I

saw people struggling to get by not

knowing what was what and what was next

and then I asked myself a question I say

how is it possible that we could be so

poor here in the United States because

the coal is such a wealthy resources so

much money and I realize because the

Chinese ingratiate themselves with a

small ruling class here in the United

States who stole all of that money and

all of that wealth for themselves and

the rest of us the vast majority of us

struggle to get by and the Chinese gave

the small ruling elite loads of military

weapons and sophisticated technology in

order to ensure that people like me

would not speak out against this

relationship

does this sound familiar and they did

things like trained Americans to help

protect the coal and everywhere were

symbols of the Chinese everywhere a

constant reminder and back in China will

they say in China nothing don’t talk

about us don’t look at the coal if you

ask him they’ll say well you know the

coal we need the coal I mean come on I’m

not gonna turn down my thermostat

you can’t expect that and so I get angry

and I get pissed as do lots of average

people and we fight back and it gets

really ugly and the Chinese respond in a

very ugly way and before we know it

they’ve sent in the tanks and they send

in the troops and lots of people are

dying and it’s a very very difficult

situation

can you imagine what you would feel if

you were in my shoes can you imagine

walking out of this building and seeing

a tank sitting out there or a truck full

of soldiers it’s just imagine what you

would feel because you know why they’re

here and you know what they’re doing

here you just feel the anger and you

feel the fear okay if you can that’s

empathy that’s empathy you’ve left your

shoes and you stood in mine and you

gotta feel that okay so that’s the warm

up that’s the warm up now we’re gonna

have the real radical experiment and so

for the remainder of my talk what I want

you to do is put yourself in the shoes

of an ordinary Arab Muslim living in the

Middle East in particular in Iraq and so

to help you perhaps you’re a member of

this middle-class family in Baghdad and

what you want is the best for your kids

you run your kids to have a better life

and you watch the news you pay attention

you read the newspaper you go down to

the coffee shop with your friends and

you read the newspapers from around the

world and some

you even watch satellite CNN from the

United States so you have a sense of

what the Americans are thinking but

really you just want a better life for

yourself that’s what you want your Arab

Muslim living in Iraq you want a better

life for yourself so here let me help

you let me help you with some things

that you might be thinking number one

this incursion into your land these past

20 years and before the reason anyone is

interested in your land in particularly

the United States its oil when it’s all

about oil you know that everybody knows

that people here back in the United

States know it’s about oil right it’s

because somebody else has a design for

your resource

it’s your resource it’s not somebody

else’s right it’s your land

it’s your resource somebody else has to

design for it and you know why they have

a design you know why they have their

their eyes set on it because they have

an entire economic system that’s

dependent on that oil the foreign oil

oil from other parts of the world that

they don’t own and what else do you

think about these people well the

Americans the rich come on they live in

big houses they have big cars they all

have blond hair blue eyes they’re happy

you think that it’s not true of course

but that’s the media impression that’s

like what you get and they have big

cities and the cities are all dependent

on oil and back home what do you see

poverty despair struggle look you don’t

live in a wealthy country I mean this is

a rock right you don’t live in this is

what you see you see people struggling

to get by I mean it’s not easy you see a

lot of poverty and you feel something

about this these people have designs for

your resource and this is what you see

something else you see that you talk

about Americans don’t talk about this

but you do there’s this thing this this

militarization of the world in its

centered right in the United States in

the United States is responsible for

almost one half of the world’s military

spending four percent of the world’s

population and you feel it you see it

every day

it’s part of your life and you mean you

talk about it with your friends you read

about it

right and back when Saddam Hussein was

in power the Americans didn’t care about

his crimes when he was gassing the Kurds

and guessing Iran they didn’t care about

it when oil was at stake somehow

suddenly things mattered and what you

see something else the United States the

hub of democracy around the world they

don’t seem to really be supporting

democratic countries all around the

world there are a lot of countries

oil-producing countries that aren’t very

democratic but supported by the United

States odd oh these incursions these two

wars the ten years of sanctions the

eight years of occupation the insurgency

that’s been unleashed on your people the

tens about the hundreds of thousands of

civilian deaths oh because of oil you

can’t help but think that you talk about

it it’s in the forefront of your mind

always you say how is that possible

in this man he’s every man your

grandfather your uncle your father your

son your neighbor your professor your

student once a life happiness and joy

and suddenly pain and sorrow everyone in

your country has been touched by the

violence the bloodshed the pain the

horror everybody not a single person in

your country has not been touched

so here but there’s something else

there’s something else about these these

people these these Americans who are

there there’s something else about them

that you see they don’t see themselves

and what do you see the Christians

they’re Christians they worship the

Christian God they have crosses they

carry Bibles their Bibles have a little

insignia that says US Army on them and

their leaders their leaders before they

send

our sons and daughters off to war in

your country and you know the reason

before they send them off they get to a

Christian Church and they pray to their

Christian God and they ask for

protection and guidance from that God

why well obviously

so that if when people die in the war

they are Muslims they are Iraqis there

are Americans

you know what Americans did I protect

our troops and you feel something about

that of course you do

and they do wonderful things you read

about it you hear but they’re there to

build schools and help people and that’s

what they want to do they do wonderful

things but they also do the bad things

and you can’t tell the difference

in this guy you got a guy like

Lieutenant General William Boykin I mean

here’s a guy who says that your God is a

false God your gods an idol his God is a

true God the solution for the problem in

the Middle East according kim is to

convert you all to christianity just get

rich in and you know that americans

don’t read about this guy they don’t

know anything about him but you do you

pass it around you’ve has his words

around I mean this is serious you’re

afraid he was one of the leading

commanders in the second invasion of

Iraq and you’re thinking we got if this

guy is saying that then all the soldiers

must be saying that in this word here

George Bush called this war a crusade

man the Americans here say a crusade

whatever I don’t know what they mean you

know what it means it’s a holy war

against Muslims look invade subdue them

take the resources if they won’t submit

kill them that’s what this is about and

you’re thinking my god these Christians

are coming to kill us this is

frightening you feel frightened of

course you feel frightened in this man

Terry Jones I mean here’s a guy wants to

burn Korans right in Americans uh what

he’s a knucklehead he’s a former hotel

manager he’s got three dozen members of

his church they laugh him off you don’t

laugh him off because in the context of

everything else all the pieces fit I

mean of course this is how Americans

stick it so people all over the Middle

East not just in your country are

protesting like this is he was a bird

Quran is our holy book these Christians

who are these Christians they’re so evil

they’re so mean I mean this is what

they’re about

this is what you’re thinking as an Arab

Muslim as an Iraqi of course you’re

going to think this and then your cousin

says hey cuz check out this website you

got to see this

this Bible boot camp these Christians

are nuts they’re training their little

kids to be soldiers for Jesus and they

take these little kids and they run them

through these things they teach them how

to say sir yes sir and things like

grenade toss and weapons care and

maintenance and go to the website says

US Army right on it I mean these

Christians they’re nuts how would they

do this to their little kids and you’re

reading this website and of course

Christians back in the United States or

anybody says ah this is some little tiny

Church in the middle of nowhere you

don’t know that for you this is like all

Christians like they’re all it’s all

over the web Bible boot camp and look at

this they even teach their kids they

train them in the same way the US

Marines train isn’t that interesting and

it scares you and it frightens you so

these guys you see them you see I Sam

Richards I know who these guys are

they’re my students my friends I mean I

know what they’re thinking you don’t

know when you see them there’s something

else there’s something else that’s what

they are to you we don’t see it that way

in the United States well you see it

that way right so here of course you got

it wrong you’re generalizing it’s wrong

you don’t understand the Americans it’s

not a Christian invasion we’re not just

there for oil were there for lots of

reasons I mean you have it wrong you

missed it and of course most of you

don’t support the insurgency you don’t

support killing Americans people you

don’t support the terrorists of course

you don’t

very few people do but something you do

right and this is a perspective ok so

now here’s what we’re going to do step

outside of your shoes that you’re in

right now and step back into your normal

shoes so everyone’s back in the room ok

now here comes the radical experiment so

we’re all back home this photo this

woman man I feel her

I feel her she’s my sister my wife my

cousin my neighbor she’s anybody to me

these guys standing there everybody in

the photo I feel this photo man okay so

here’s what I want you to do let’s go

back to my first example of the Chinese

okay so I want you to go there so it’s

all about Cole and the Chinese are here

in the United States and what I want you

to do is picture her as a Chinese woman

receiving a Chinese flag because her

loved one has died in America in the

Cole uprising and the soldiers are

Chinese and everybody else has Chinese

okay

as an American how do you feel about

this picture what do you think about

that scene okay try this bring it back

this is the scene here it’s an American

American soldiers American woman who

lost her loved one in the Middle East in

Iraq or Afghanistan okay now put

yourself in the shoes go back to the

shoes of an Arab Muslim living in Iraq

what are you feeling and thinking about

this photo about this woman

okay now follow me on this because I’m

taking a big risk here and so I’m going

to invite you to take a risk with me

these gentlemen here they’re insurgents

they were caught by the American

soldiers trying to kill Americans it may

be they succeeded

maybe they succeeded put yourself in the

shoes of the Americans who caught them

can you feel the rage

can you feel you just want to take these

guys and wring their necks we can you go

there it shouldn’t be that difficult you

know you just be oh man right okay

now put yourself in their shoes are they

brutal killers or patriotic defenders

which one can you feel their anger their

fear their rage and what has happened in

their country can you imagine that maybe

one of them in the morning

bent down to their child and hug their

child and said dear I’ll be back later

I’m going out to defend your freedom

your lives I’m going out to look out for

us the future of our country can you

imagine that

can you imagine saying that can you go

there what do you think they’re feeling

you see that sympathy it’s also

understanding now you might ask okay Sam

so why do you do this sort of thing why

would you use this example of all

examples and I say because because

you’re allowed to hate these people

right you’re allowed to man just hate

them with every fiber of your being and

if I can get you to step into their

shoes and walk an inch one tiny inch

then imagine the kind of sociological

analysis that you can do in all other

aspects of your life you can walk a mile

when it comes to understanding why that

person driving 40 miles per hour in the

passing lane or your teenage son or your

neighbor who annoys you by cutting his

lawn on Sunday mornings whatever it is

you can go so far and this is what I

tell my students step outside of your

tiny little world

step inside of the tiny little world of

somebody else and then do it again and

do it again and do it again and suddenly

all these tiny little worlds they come

together in this complex web and they

build a big complex world and suddenly

without realizing it you’re seeing the

world differently everything has changed

everything in your life has changed and

that’s of course what this is about

attend to other lives other visions

listen to other people enlighten

ourselves I’m not saying that I support

the terrorists in Iraq but as a

sociologist what I am saying is I

understand and now perhaps perhaps you

do to thank

you