Canada

It is really false. In fact, most people care if leaders have empathy, they care that the people in power have no empathy, this is the most wanted trait for ceo and top level executives. Psychopaths and sociopaths make the best leaders. Or this is what our society try to push.

Because our culture has spent the past 250 years attempting to minimize the value of empathy.

That’s something that always drives me crazy about the “value of the atomic family” schtick in some conservative circles. On the one hand, they want a return to the atomic family. On the other, they’re still full steam ahead on individualism and keeping empathy out of decision processes.

Meanwhile, other family-based cultures are messy, more “molecular family” than the “traditional” atomic family, because the culture is based on empathy and shame/honor. Without empathy, leadership always dehumanizes the ones it is supposed to serve.

I care about it a great deal.

But if you want a hypothesis for your question..

I think its because, as primates, we feel a desire to punish our enemies. It an emotional impulse, and therefore gets a power buff in its influence over our beliefs compared to being reasonable and fostering understanding. The empathetic leader is perceived to lack in their capabilities for delivering punishment.

Control is why we (the society) are discouraged from developing the skills to be reasonable in the first place.

Because not giving a damn bubbled up from it's sources as teenage angst and toxic masculinity… into the actually dominant role model for rich men

I remember in school everyone was indoctrinated about how amazing globalism is. The issue is that before that those sociopathic narcissist fucks could only cause so much damage. Now that have the whole globe as their playground and their methods grow better and better while the old tricks to deal with them (ergo taking them out to the fields to see the flowers) don't work anymore because they filled the forces with their own kind.

I would buy a mic clip I think.

It really should be at or near the top of the list of requirements IMO

I suppose because it's so common. Power creates apathy, it's a human trait and universal.

The way to mitigate it is to limit their time in power. There are gentle and not-so-gentle ways to achieve that. However it's done, it needs to be institutionalized and protected as a process. Because people in power will spend some of their power trying to tear down any such process, due to, you know, a lack of empathy. It seems to be a circular trap we're all stuck in, but maybe someday we'll figure out a permanent solution. Maybe.