"Suicidal empathy" might be

one way to describe what is going on in France and now, it seems, spreading across Europe.

There is certainly much more to it than our media is suggesting. This is not about school buildings or resources. It is not about class sizes or teacher training. It has very little to do with education at all.

"Oh but France has always had student problems," someone told me today, "I remember when we were in teachers' college they were rioting then."

There were some problems then. It was a long time ago. They were nothing like the current problems, problems which fuelled by social media and much darker forces which use it.

There is a young woman I have met. She works in the local supermarket. She is "converting to Islam". She now wears the hijab, long sleeves and a long dress. She was "a Christian" but her current boyfriend is apparently a Muslim. She is doing everything he asks of her and seems to be completely under his control. She praises the pro-Palestinian protest movement and more. 

I wonder what she thinks of the way in which Christian and Jewish people, groups and businesses are being attacked while Muslims are being left unharmed not just in France but elsewhere. Is she happy with the way our federal government has given millions of dollars to Muslim groups, including to the mosque where the preacher has been telling his congregation it is acceptable for men to beat their wives? I have no way of knowing this and I most certainly do not think it would be right for me to ask but I do find it of interest. I would be concerned for anyone who was doing just as their partner was demanding they do.

Is this part of a wider problem though? Are we really aware of how much we are all being told what to think, what to say, what to do. How many of us have blindly accepted "climate change" and "renewable energy" or that Ukraine should give up land forcibly taken by Russia in order to end that war? How many of those on the pro-Palestinian "protests" believe that Israel alone is to blame for what is happening there? We are being told "multiculturalism is good" and opposing bringing in more migrants and refugees makes us racist. What if we do want more migrants but only those we see as fitting in with our beliefs? What if we believe refugees should go home when the situation in their country changes? Do we or do we not allow more than one legal system into our country so as to accommodate different beliefs about how people should be treated?

One of my neighbours was asking these questions yesterday. He had seen the video clip of the shop keeper who was bewildered at the way some of the rioters had looted her shop. She was telling them "but I said I wanted you here..." His reaction was, "They should be grateful they were allowed to go there or that they can come here."

No, they will not always be grateful. There will always be people who are angry and will go on being angry. They will go on believing they have lost everything and they have a right to take anything they want from others. Any attempt to prevent that is likely to make them even more resentful. 

We are told we should be empathetic, kind, tolerant, understanding and much more. If we are then do we also need to understand that such empathy might not be appreciated? Do we need to tolerate that even at risk to ourselves? 

I have no answers to that but perhaps we do need to think about the harm "suicidal empathy" could do if we allow it.