Where is Sympathy Today?

               In the selections that we read out of The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith develops the idea of sympathy in which human beings, as social persons, inherently maintain a form of natural sympathy towards others. When a person in hurt or in need of compassion, people are able to produce it, allowing for the gross accumulation of human emotion, ultimately leading to a sense of mutual understanding and camaraderie. Although mankind is consistently working towards personal success in the individual realm, the social realm enables such affection. In Section 3, Chapter 2, Smith describes, "It is because mankind are disposed to sympathize more entirely with our joy than with our sorrow, that we make parade of our riches, and conceal our poverty" (62). By this I believe he refers to the way in which people can begin to relate, sharing their own experiences of success to present an image of themselves that exists in happiness, instead of experiencing immediate vulnerability with the discussion of sorrowful topics. He continues, "The fortunate and the proud wonder at the insolence of human wretchedness that it should dare to present itself before them, and with the loathsome aspect of its misery presume to disturb the serenity of their happiness. The man of rank and distinction, on the contrary, is observed by all the world. Everybody is eager to look at him, and to conceive, at least by sympathy, that joy and exultation with which his circumstances naturally inspire him. His actions are the objects of the public care" (64). From this passage, I began to wonder about the people/actions that we watch in the news and in popular culture, versus what we chose to hide. Some people do not watch certain news stations because all they discuss are "bad" things; while it is often true that news stations spin stories in ways that are ultra-dramatic and out of touch, is it possible that on a deeper level, it is the topic is what turns people away due to their discomfort? Is that the reason that people pay attention to the media that promotes the lifestyles of the wealthy, even if they are ridiculous? How does this passage relate to the focus of governmental issues such as where the tax revenue goes, or the needs of those on welfare?