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Comment by Simulacra | Hacker News Reader

Your comment reminded me of James Traficant, the former congressman of Ohio. He went to jail for bribery, and then came out of jail suddenly caring about prison inmates. I've seen this in a few other, former elected officials, who have gone to jail.

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Some people are incapable of having empathy about an issue or a group of people unless they have a personal connection to that group or issue. You see it in politicians who are anti-gay rights until they have a child who comes out as gay (e.g. Rob Portman).

> Some people are incapable of having empathy about an issue or a group of people unless they have a personal connection to that group or issue

Yes, these people have a whole party based on this principle.

See also "The only moral abortion is my abortion" for the complete opposite. Where people fail to develop empathy even after it has affected them.

https://joycearthur.com/abortion/the-only-moral-abortion-is-...

This reading was great. Thanks for sharing!

"As the father of a daughter, I understand the need for feminism that I ignored as a son, brother, playmate, classmate, friend, neighbour, landlord, tenant, lover, teammate, colleague, report, supervisor, and fellow citizen."

That's a particularly icky formulation of personal connection, because it has overtones of paternity as property rights.

Jail and isolation are big motivators for people to change their views.

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