We have all seen them and many of us have suffered under their thrall. As an independent business owner I no longer have to worry about them, but visiting a client’s office as I do regularly I have seen this animal again. He lurks in the back office and you hear the occasional roar. Just now and again you have to pass him and he bares his teeth, but he can’t touch me now. He just contents himself with a big display, complaining about a colleague who is away from the office, but the purpose of this vitriolic performance is to intimidate the other staff having to listen to his tirade.

It is pathetic. Of course the owners should deal with him but they have failed to do so before, thus increasing his power in his own mind. He cannot get me and he endangers himself by his display to me. One day he will be put in his place and if I hear about it the pleasure I shall get will be only that others will benefit; I will take no pleasure in his pain.

As someone who is quite active on Twitter, I seem to have managed to acquire a large number of followers whom I have politely followed back and who tweet a good deal about politics in the US. Some of the comments are quite interesting, but what is remarkable is that the political Twittersphere is dominated by Republican supporters of the previous administration and those who badge themselves as “conservative”, which is for the most part the same thing. Of course American conservatism is far to the right of Her Majesty’s Official Opposition in Britain, the Conservative Party, who are probably to the left (in European political terms) of the Democrats in the US.

What has been most striking to me is the sheer vitriol and bile cast by these American conservatives towards the Obama administration, which many describe as “socialist”, even though they do not know the meaning of the term in the context of Marxism or European social democracy. It is clear that they understand nothing about politics outside their home patch and certainly they understand nothing about the current Government party in Britain, whom their old Bush administration praised so lavishly over the Iraq War.

The “socialist” jibes relate in part to the the President’s Health Care plan, and all his opponents talk about is that taxes will have to go up, at the same time slating Britain’s National Health Service, about which they know little. Meanwhile we have seen reports of the uninsured in America queuing up to be seen by charity volunteers because they cannot afford to pay. Should people be allowed to be unnecessarily sick and die purely because of a lack of resources?

Elsewhere, we have seen the opprobrium lavished on Jimmy Carter for his comments describing as based on racial politics South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson’s outburst during President Obama’s speech to Congress this week. One Tweeter described as the most despised president of recent times, though he may have picked up on the context of Ronald Kessler’s book about the Secret Service, which I think said that the Service hated him. Most despised president? This would be the same Jimmy Carter who has tried so hard to help bring peace in the troubled Middle East. There is very likely a lobby that feels that Carter’s solution would mean that one side has to cede a little ground, political or metaphorical, but “despised” is a strong word. Jimmy Carter was not the greatest US President, but he is a decent hardworking and clever man who could have sat at home in Georgia and done nothing, but actually does his best to make the world a better place whilst well into his eighties..

I am simply surprised at the strident criticism of humanitarian efforts within America and reaching out to other countries. I know and meet many Americans and I certainly don’t get from them the lack of compassion for others, whether the sick at home, or the disadvantaged in the Middle East or elsewhere. I love America and find their citizens very welcoming when I visit their country. I do not believe these supposed GOP supporters are really representative of the majority.

What about all these intolerant conservative people on Twitter? Well, I have “unfollowed” most of them, and kept the Americans I like, of which there are so many.

I wrote this piece four years ago when someone was bullied on-line by several people after making an innocent mistake:

To me the word “compassion” implies an empathic understanding of the suffering of another and thus is a step beyond pity, which nevertheless is a sympathetic appreciation of another’s plight.

It is perhaps not too difficult to understand the anguish of those with whom we are not acquainted. If we see news footage of a starving child or hear about victims of the Asian tsunami of course we feel emotion. However, unless there is any direct involvement (where for instance someone we know was killed or bereaved) we might perhaps send a charitable donation but we are otherwise unable to help in a practical sense and do not become greatly engaged emotionally.

Sometimes, though, it seems to us that someone we know has been seriously wronged, or we have a deep sense of injustice or sympathy for that person’s anguish. If that person who is our friend or colleague has been deeply hurt or is vulnerable, we are anxious to rush to that person’s side, to help fight the battle. That is a very noble and honourable thing to do and it will be helpful to the person wronged to know that he or she has the support of others through a difficult time.

Nevertheless, often in human relationships there are two sides to every story. That does not mean that the person wronged is in any way to blame, but perhaps the behaviour of the supposed perpetrator has to be seen in the context of his or her own situation and probably that person’s emotional state. That person should not be demonised and it may be that that person requires some understanding too, indeed some compassion; an empathic understanding as to why the person acted in the way that he or she did. Perhaps the wrongful act was an accident or a simple indiscretion under stress (if it was a criminal act then that is for another discussion another time), and in some circumstances it might have been a cry for help.

These situations occur in online relationships too, and of course it is very likely that they will affect people’s daily lives. Compassion for the “wrongdoer” does not require us to agree with someone’s actions but if we make an effort to understand the circumstances it may assuage our anger.

My Oxford Pocket Dictionary defines compassion as “pity inclining one to spare or help”. Online or offline, it is always important not to rush to judgement, but to help and support the parties involved and show compassion to all those who need it.

© Jon Stow 2005