John Buttrick writes from his Vermont Rocker in his Concord home, Minds Crossing. He can be reached at johndbuttrick@gmail.com

Many citizens in the United States seem to be suffering a malaise of powerlessness as well as the misuse of power. Donald Trump said at one of his rallies, “Our strength is in the fear my opponents have of me.” He also said, “We must fight like hell,” as well as “knock the crap out of” the protestors against his campaign rallies. “Lock her up,” (Hillary Clinton) he shouted to a crowd. He promised to pay for the defense of any who were prosecuted for such actions.

His words of aggression find the ears of many who are feeling powerless in their daily lives. Joining forces with the one who is feared promises a share of his power, and with it, perceives permission to wield that abusive power through aggression toward the other.

Yet, power does not necessarily always result in abuse, egomania, and harm to others. Power is not evil, per se. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did say, “power without love is reckless and abusive.” But he further said, “Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice.” Power, wisely used, bears the responsibility for enhancing the well-being of all people and for the care of the environment. One of the key elements needed for the benevolent use of power is empathy. It is difficult to use power abusively when one is aware of the burden that power imposes on another.

These observations are all well and good but they do not consider how to teach empathy as a component of a person’s life. “Can empathy be taught? Absolutely.” ”Empathy refers to understanding and identifying with other people’s emotions or perspectives.”

“Empathetic individuals can come together with people from different cultures and different backgrounds, and understand new perspectives. Teaching empathy allows children to develop skills to communicate with people who do not necessarily share their experiences. This ability to empathize and communicate can strengthen the global community.”

The Canadian Mental Health Association has several proven practices that will teach or improve empathy. First, talk to people. “Have conversations with a wide range of people about their feelings and experiences… Get exposed to lifestyles, worldviews, and life experiences that are different from your own.” Another practice is to try new things. “That might mean travelling to a new country or spending time in a different neighborhood. It might mean trying new kinds of food or attending a place of worship of a different faith.” Finally, read some fiction. “It is a science-based way… to increase your empathy. It allows you to enter the characters’ thoughts and feelings and see their point of view.”

These self-improvement practices may be difficult to teach to an adult who is not motivated to include empathy in their relationships. It’s difficult to imagine empathetic white supremacists, those rejecting asylum seekers and refugees, those practicing hegemony, or sociopaths. However, F. Diane Barth L.C.S.W. writes in Psychology Today, “As I listen to clients, colleagues, and friends discussing their concerns these days, I find myself thinking that we should be teaching empathy in school. Perhaps if we start in the early grades and keep teaching it through high school, problems of bullying, harassment, and other inappropriate behavior would diminish.” I would add, teaching empathy in schools might also modify the development of hardline attitudes in the next adult generation.

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Also, there is the possibility of teaching empathy to adult hardliners. Barth explains, “our neural networks are set up to interact with the neural networks of others in order to both perceive and understand their emotions and to differentiate them from our own, which makes it possible for humans to live with one another without constantly fighting or feeling taken over by someone else.” The way to teach empathy to a hardliner is to notice and relate to their feelings. As they experience empathy from the other person, they may learn how to be empathetic themselves.

Empathy takes away the feeling of powerlessness for both. It introduces the power of love and justice into relationships. Empathy is a hope for the future where the divide in our country may be overcome and the power of each individual in the democracy will be realized.