In Chapter 3 of Gad Saad’s book Suicidal Empathy, titled “Cultural Theory of Mind,” the author examines how demographic and cultural shifts unfold in Western societies when large numbers of people from incompatible cultures arrive and do not assimilate. Building on the foundation laid in the earlier chapters, this section offers one of the clearest accounts yet of a process that is already visible in Europe and increasingly evident in parts of the United States.
Saad describes a recurring pattern. When the population in question is small, its members are often viewed as an exotic presence that adds color and interest to the host society. As their numbers increase, they frequently adopt a posture of victimhood, claiming they are underrepresented and entitled to additional rights and accommodations under Western legal systems. Large public prayers in town squares have become one visible expression of this stage in several European countries and in some American cities. In the later stage, when the population becomes large enough to exercise significant political influence, Saad reports being told by Arabic-speaking friends that Islam views America as “a woman to be mounted.” He pairs this observation with the consistent refusal of many within these communities to adopt the core values of the societies that have accepted them.
Empathy Without Boundaries
A central theme of the chapter is the role of misplaced empathy in accelerating these changes. Saad illustrates this with a street interview of a woman with pink-dyed hair who expressed strong support for Palestine. When the interviewer asked whether she understood that people there might kill her if she went, she replied that it did not matter because she was still going to respect them as human beings. Pressed further, she answered, “No, I’m still going to support them because it’s the right thing to do.” When told that such a stance might one day result in her own death, she responded, “Then that’s the way I was meant to go.”
Saad connects this form of self-sacrificial empathy to a deeper pattern in which Westerners extend compassion even to those who reject the most basic principles of individual rights and human dignity. He uses the analogy of a wood cricket whose brain is hijacked by a parasite, causing it to act against its own survival. The same dynamic, he argues, leads some to tolerate or excuse the sexual abuse of children when it occurs within certain cultural frameworks, all in the name of cultural relativism.
Shortly after the October 7, 2022 Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians, including the massacre at a music festival, I went to the Texas State Capitol as a citizen journalist to document the response. Within just a few days, activists were already holding rallies in defense of Palestine while showing little to no empathy for the murdered Israelis. I shared what I witnessed here:
The Blank-Slate Fallacy
Saad also addresses a common objection raised against critics of mass immigration. Because Elon Musk immigrated to the United States, some argue that he lacks standing to criticize current immigration policies, including the entry of individuals with criminal records. Saad identifies the underlying fallacy: the assumption that simply being human automatically makes every other person equally suited to American society and equally entitled to unrestricted access. This view treats individuals as interchangeable units and ignores the importance of culture, values, and conduct.
Why Some Cultures Are Better
In one of the more direct passages, Saad states that a culture is objectively better when it prohibits the genital mutilation of young girls, when it does not permit the rape of children, and when it does not execute people for being gay by throwing them from rooftops. He asserts that American culture meets these standards and is therefore superior to cultures that normalize such practices. He notes that this conclusion has become difficult to state openly. He further observes that even some men now appear to extend greater empathy toward cultures that engage in these practices than toward their own.
Chapter 3 presents a coherent account of how certain forms of empathy, combined with large-scale demographic change and non-assimilation, can undermine the institutions and norms of open societies. The material is presented in a direct style that rewards careful reading. Anyone concerned about the long-term cohesion of Western countries would benefit from engaging with the arguments Saad advances in this chapter.
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