Conspicuous Compassion: Why Sometimes It Really Is Cruel To Be Kind

by Patrick West

We live in an age of conspicuous compassion. We sport empathy ribbons, send flowers to recently deceased celebrities, weep in public over murdered children, apologize for historical misdemeanors, wear red noses for the starving, go on demonstrations to proclaim 'Drop the Debt' or 'Not in My Name.' We feel each other's pain. We desperately seek a common identity and new social bonds to replace those that have withered in the post-war era - the family, the church, the nation and neighborhood. Mourning sickness is a religion for the lonely crowd that no longer subscribes to orthodox churches. Its flowers and teddies are its rites, its collective minutes' silences its liturgy and mass. This book's thesis is that such displays of empathy do not change the world for the they do not help the poor, diseased, dispossessed or bereaved. Our culture of ostentatious caring is about projecting your ego, and informing others what a deeply caring individual you are. It is about feeling good, not doing good, and illustrates not how altruistic we have become, but how selfish. And, as Patrick West shows in this witty but incisive monograph, sometimes it can be cruel.

Genres: Nonfiction

79 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2004

Reviews

[Wintertime · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a world full of pretentious, bigheaded 'activists' who believe in their ideologies as they were some kind of religion, bringing thus a new kind of fascism and totalitarianism, voices like that of West must be widely heard, even if they are not perfect. Let's start trusting our eyes and hearts again. All that glitters is not gold.

[Kitty Red-Eye · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s quite promising about virtue-signaling and empty gestures, but is a bit aggressive in tone and goes too fast through its topics to be very good. I agree with the author for the most, but I don’t get the feeling I am gaining new insights.

[Andrew Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book articulated a number of things I have often thought about. Its tone and arguments are uncompromising. It's an interesting snapshot of British society in the early 21st century and challenges a number of received notions on such topics as the efficacy of brandishing "Not in my name" banners at anti-war marches, minute's silences and the wearing of empathy ribbons to show solidarity for . The book makes for uncomfortable reading regarding the way in which people choose to show how much they care and why they care.

[Alan Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short pamphlet from Civitas writer. Genuinely funny at times.