started speaking about an “empathy deficit”

[flowersa]

Hi, what is "empathy deficit"? I guess it's a term?

Should I understand "crippling" like in this example? a crippling disease

"For weeks afterward, he was downcast and angry at the scale of the
failure of George W. Bush and his administration. He started speaking about an “empathy deficit” crippling the country, about the severity of the problems that America
faced"

 

[BobSmith]

Hi, what is "empathy deficit"? I guess it's a term?

Should I understand "crippling" like in this example? a crippling disease Yes.

"For weeks afterward, he was downcast and angry at the scale of the
failure of George W. Bush and his administration. He started speaking about an “empathy deficit” crippling the country, about the severity of the problems that America
faced"

[not a teacher]

The term is in quotes, which denotes that is it not a typcial phrase. Its meaning is literal, so just look up the words: empathy deficit.

 

[flowersa]

[not a teacher]

The term is in quotes, which denotes that is it not a typcial phrase. Its meaning is literal, so just look up the words: empathy deficit.

Hi Bob ... thanks, for the second one you're right I don't understand the literal meaning of deficit that comes with "empathy" first time that I see, I'll keep looking for it.

 

[Barb_D]

Simply, as a nation, we don't show enough empathy toward one another.

 

[TheParser]

He started speaking about an “empathy deficit” crippling the country, about the severity of the problems that America

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


(1) It is only my opinion that it means something like this:

(a) "deficit" means that you do not have enough of something. For example, in the

United States and Europe (I do not know about the situation in your country),

governments are running deficits (not enough money to pay for everything).

(b) "empathy" means to sympathize with others. As our President Clinton was

famous for saying: I feel your pain.

(c) So I guess the writer was saying that many people in the United States do not

have the ability to "feel" the pain of those who do not have a job (or a very

low-paying job). Here in the States, everyone is talking about the 1% (the rich) and the

99% (the rest of us).

(2) For example, some (many?) people seem to have a "kindness deficit." They

are lacking in the quality of kindness. In other words, they are rude or nasty, but they

often do not think they are! Then they wonder why many people do not like them!

 

[flowersa]

Thanks I understood it in the end