I've lost any illusions of my own empathy under Trump

[wnylib]

34. I don't think you've completely lost the ability

to be empathetic. Sounds like your empathy is focused on the victims and lacking for the perpetrators. Some people can feel empathy for both perpetrators and victims.

But when the perpetrator has the power to do great harm to a great number of people, and you are emotionally invested in stopping him and in caring for and about the people he has harmed, it is draining to still feel for the perpetrator and anyone who abets him. You end up wanting relief for yourself as well as for the victims - or at least I do. Something gives and you close off the part of yourself that could feel for the perp and those who abet him.

I can feel sadness for what Trump has become. To me, his childhood is transparent in his adult behavior. That transparency is aided by insights from Mary Trump. I can feel sadness for what makes people identify with him enough to support him.

But I cannot empathize with him or them beyond that. I don't have that much energy in me. It is taken up with seeing him - and them - stopped. It is taken up with concern for their victims. It is taken up with looking after my own well being, too, in the nightmare that Trump and his supporters have created. I have no energy left for Trump, his enablers, or his supporters.

I suspect that how you feel is similar to how I feel, since you have expressed concern for the people he has harmed, continues to harm, and will harm if not stopped. That is a person who has reached their empathy limit, but has not lost it completely.