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If you’ve never had a child, you have no concept of what it’s like to have a child. But this is hardly unique. Pretty much any experience can alter your perception of anything. If you’ve never taken LSD, and someone tells you about time dilation, and says “you’ll feel like an hour has gone by, and look up at the clock, and not even 1 minute has passed.” You might nod your head like you understand; but you literally have no clue how that feels, or even what it means. You have no frame of reference for an experience like that.

Same thing with racial persecution, or childbirth, or date rape. If we’ve all got a spare $10 each month for a Bulwark subscription, chances are we’re a long way away from food insecurity, much less starvation.

The human ability to feel “empathy” can help bridge the understanding gap, but the stoic, masculine Right has traditionally scored points by ridiculing the squishy, feminine Left for empathizing with just about anyone.

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