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