Empathy is the capacity to imagine the suffering of others even when we have not personally experienced such an event. While most humans are capable of empathy, our response to that emotion varies widely.
Of course, those who have endured similar pain tend to be most empathetic. Individuals who have personally experienced gun violence, discrimination, sexual abuse, complicated pregnancies or other tragedies easily identify with the suffering of those victims. Persons and families fortunate to be untainted by such experiences are often less inclined to support laws designed to circumvent these problems or to deal with them in a fair and humane way.
The American political scene seems to represent this divide: those empathetic to the plight of others versus those more focused on their individual beliefs and needs. Donald Trump, clearly incapable of empathy, has a firm grip on the latter group.
