the weaponization of empathy

History has shown us that before people are stripped of their rights, they’re first stripped of their humanity.

On a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Elon Musk was quoted as saying “the fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.” It was a statement as reckless as it was revealing, exposing a worldview that has long underpinned systemic injustice around the world. But Musk wasn’t just saying empathy is bad—he was saying that caring about individuals prevents society from protecting itself.

As sociologist Philip N. Cohen explains, the Nazis called it “false humanity.” Musk calls it “weaponized empathy.” The language is slightly different, but the premise remains the same: convince the public that caring about individuals is a weakness, that morality must serve the greater good, and that civilization must be protected from those who are deemed lesser. And when leaders lack the moral courage to push back against these forces, they allow dehumanization to take root and spread.

I spent 18 years interviewing people who fled wars and genocides. People often wonder how genocides happen, as if they are spontaneous eruptions of violence rather than the predictable outcome of a deliberate process. In Rwanda for example, the Hutu and Tutsi had lived together for generations, intermarried, and built shared communities. But a dehumanization campaign orchestrated by Belgian colonizers planted the seeds of division. By institutionalizing ethnic identity and favoring the Tutsi minority, they deepened resentment that would later be exploited by Hutu extremists. Decades later, during the 1994 genocide, Hutu-led propaganda portrayed Tutsis as parasites, an economic drain, and a threat to civilization—justifying mass murder on an unprecedented scale.

The same rhetoric is being used today. 47 and his regime are pushing the idea that certain people—whether they be immigrants, individuals with disabilities, or so-called “DEI hires”—are weakening our systems. The language shifts depending on the target, but the mechanism remains the same: if people can be convinced to see others as obstacles to their own success, empathy becomes the enemy. But empathy is what allows us to see each other as human, to recognize suffering, and to respond with care. When we stop seeing people as individuals with inherent dignity, we create the conditions where injustice thrives and dehumanization reduces people to obstacles, burdens, or threats.

dehumanization is more than just ideological rhetoric—it’s a deliberate strategy

Musk’s attack on empathy isn’t just rhetoric—it’s central to how he treats his own employees. Leaders who adopt a similar mindset create environments where people are treated like machines—reduced to numbers, performance metrics, or 'resources' to be maximized rather than recognized as whole human beings with emotions, families, and struggles beyond the workplace.

To understand how we got here, we must go back to the founding of this country. The United States was built on ideals of liberty, justice, and democracy, but these principles were never meant for everyone. The founding fathers spoke of freedom while owning enslaved people. They drafted declarations of equality while denying the rights of women, Indigenous peoples, and anyone who wasn’t a white, property-owning man. The system they created was fragile from the start, designed to serve the few while relying on the many to uphold it.

Over time, those ideals—selectively applied as they were—began to spread beyond American borders. With its growing global influence, the United States exported not just its culture but its economic and political systems, embedding individualism and free-market capitalism into societies that once centered community and collective well-being. Across the world, cultures that had long valued interdependence began to shift under the weight of American ideals—measuring success through profit, competition, and self-interest rather than connection and care. The belief in individual supremacy and wealth as the ultimate measure of success eroded cultures built on connection, reciprocity, and shared prosperity. In doing so, the dehumanization embedded in America’s DNA seeped into global systems in ways that are now impossible to ignore.

Just as we witness the dehumanization of entire groups to consolidate control at the national level, organizational leaders who prioritize profit and productivity above all else create environments that breed burnout, trauma, disconnection, and moral injury. The absence of moral courage in leadership allows these dynamics to flourish, as leaders either actively participate in the harm or remain complicit in their silence.

Since the rise of industrialization, we’ve seen common trends emerge across workplaces in various sectors:

• The glorification of overwork: Employees are expected to be constantly available, sacrificing their well-being for the company’s bottom line.
• Productivity over people: Layoffs and cost-cutting measures prioritize shareholder value over the livelihoods of workers.
• Lack of psychological safety: Employees fear speaking up, as voicing concerns is often met with retaliation rather than support.
• The erosion of human dignity: Workers, especially those in lower-wage jobs or those working in service of others, are treated as disposable, with little regard for their long-term well-being.

And we’ve seen these same trends play out on a national stage. As 47 and his regime dismantle institutions, gut social programs, and attack basic rights, we see the same dehumanizing tactics in action. The narratives used to frame certain groups as lazy, dangerous, or undeserving in society are mirrored across industries to justify worker exploitation. The erosion of empathy isn’t confined to one sector—it is a widespread, intentional strategy that flourishes when leaders look the other way. Those who refuse to challenge these narratives, who remain passive or complicit, reinforce the very systems of harm they claim to serve.

At the heart of these issues isn’t just systemic dehumanization—it’s the failure of leaders to demonstrate moral courage. Results and metrics are important in any workplace because they help us understand if we’re on track for achieving our goals and meeting our missions. But reducing leadership to nothing more than a vehicle for driving results does a disservice to the people who make those results possible, eroding trust, engagement, and the very humanity that sustains a thriving workplace culture.

Leadership is about more than outcomes—it’s about the responsibility to create environments where people feel valued, respected, and empowered to contribute meaningfully. Yet, time and again, we see leaders choose power, profit, and self-preservation over their responsibility to the people they lead. It takes moral courage to challenge a system that rewards exploitation and to center humanity in decision-making. But without that courage, leadership is nothing more than a mechanism for maintaining the status quo.

empathetic leadership isn’t a weakness—it’s a necessity

Empathetic leadership isn’t a weakness—it’s a necessity. Organizations that cultivate cultures of trust, psychological safety, and human connection see higher engagement, lower turnover, and more innovation. But beyond the metrics, they create environments where people feel seen, valued, and respected. True leadership is about more than financial or productivity outcomes—it is about moral responsibility.

Preventing dehumanization starts where we have the most direct influence—our schools, communities, and workplaces. Leaders who practice empathy in these spaces aren’t just improving culture; they are actively resisting a societal trend designed to strip people of their worth. It is not enough to talk about empathy and compassion—leaders must practice them, even when it comes at a cost.

And let’s be clear—the systems that govern our world aren’t broken; they were designed to function this way. But we don’t have to accept them as inevitable. Leadership without moral courage is complicity. The future isn’t predetermined—it is shaped by the choices we make now. Leaders who lack moral courage will continue to enable harm, but those willing to act with empathy, compassion, and conviction can build something better.

Leaders across sectors, especially in the U.S., are at a crossroads. We must decide whether to uphold the status quo or fundamentally change the way we lead, work, and—most importantly—how we show up for one another as human beings. We can continue down a path where dehumanization is the norm, or we can commit to building something better—where empathy isn’t just valued, but recognized as the foundation of a thriving society. This isn’t just an abstract choice; it’s a moral one.

toolkit for sustainable service

If you’re feeling exhausted, disillusioned, or overwhelmed by the weight of serving others, you’re not alone. The challenges faced by those working in service—vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, burnout, moral injury, and institutional betrayal—aren’t just individual burdens; they’re collective struggles that require collective solutions. Service should not come at the cost of your well-being.

The Rooted + Resilient Toolkit is a free resource designed for those working in service of others—educators, healthcare professionals, nonprofit leaders, civil servants, social justice advocates, attorneys, and mission-driven leaders and professionals navigating this moment with moral courage and collective care.

workshops + events

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