The Myth of Compassion

One of the most powerful symbols used by statists is the political surrogate for love: “compassion.” Unfurling this banner, they describe democratic capitalism as a “cold” system, more concerned with “profits” than with “people.”

Psychological testing shows that liberal activists imagine the Federal Government “up ahead,” “a little above,” as a kind of “warm glowing center of inspiration and organization.” When they follow that light, they feel inner peace. They feel that they are on the side of compassion, caring, helping—on the side of history. For in their view, not quite unconscious, history is neither absurd nor meaningless nor cruel; it has an upward bias, it rises, it converges. Some attribute this inner power to God, others to Hegel, still others to a deeply felt confidence, optimism, or trust in human nature. To be on the side of history is to be moral. A liberal activist finds it hard to believe that anyone not “on the side of history” can really be nice.

About the Author

Michael Novak

Michael Novak was a Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat.

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One of the most powerful symbols used by statists is the political surrogate for love: “compassion.” Unfurling this banner, they describe democratic capitalism as a “cold” system, more concerned with “profits” than with “people.”

Psychological testing shows that liberal activists imagine the Federal Government “up ahead,” “a little above,” as a kind of “warm glowing center of inspiration and organization.” When they follow that light, they feel inner peace. They feel that they are on the side of compassion, caring, helping—on the side of history. For in their view, not quite unconscious, history is neither absurd nor meaningless nor cruel; it has an upward bias, it rises, it converges. Some attribute this inner power to God, others to Hegel, still others to a deeply felt confidence, optimism, or trust in human nature. To be on the side of history is to be moral. A liberal activist finds it hard to believe that anyone not “on the side of history” can really be nice.