The Empathy Scam — Script (Unfiltered Edition)
The one where kindness gets outsourced to emojis and ring lights.
“Empathy used to be human.
Now it’s just optics — and everyone’s shopping.”
INTRO — The Illusion of Caring
Empathy?
Empathy my ass.
People today don’t give a shit about anyone —
unless it comes with likes, validation, or a chance to look spiritually moisturised online.
Empathy used to be human.
Now it’s a performance review with soft lighting.
Everyone’s on a “journey” —
healing, cleansing, grounding, aligning —
but half of them wouldn’t hold a door open if their life depended on it.
Modern empathy is basically:
“I hear you, babe…
but can you repeat that?
I want to film it for my story.”
This isn’t caring.
This is content.
The truth?
Most people don’t want to help you.
They want to be seen as someone who would.
PART 1 — What People Call Empathy (and Why It’s Bullshit)
You know what people love to say?
“Oh Noah, people today are so much more empathetic.”
Are they?
ARE THEY?
Because every time someone says that, I look around and all I see is ego with eyebrows.
People aren’t sensitive.
They’re reactive.
People don’t care.
They curate.
People don’t talk about their feelings.
They post quotes from a girl crying in her car with pink eyeliner.
Talking isn’t empathy.
It’s marketing — and business is booming.
Empathy is not part of your “self-growth journey”.
It’s something you do for OTHER people —
not an extension of your fucking morning routine.
Trying isn’t empathy.
Trying is Pilates.
The truth?
Modern empathy is spiritual diet coke.
Zero calories. Zero weight. Zero effort.
And people believe it.
But you and I?
We’re not idiots.
We see through that shit.
PART 2 — What People ACTUALLY Do (and Call It Empathy)
Heart emoji?
That’s not empathy — that’s tapping your screen.
“Stay strong”?
Emotional minimum wage.
Sharing mental health posts?
Social currency.
Voice note saying “I’m here for you”?
Check back when they pick up the call.
“Sending good energy”?
Bitch, send money.
Reposting missing dogs?
Congratulations — you’ve joined the investigation from your sofa.
“Reach out if you need anything”?
No one means that.
No one wants you to actually reach out.
Not being rude isn’t empathy.
It’s functionality.
Empathy isn’t the absence of cruelty.
It’s the presence of effort.
And effort is extinct.
PART 3 — The Real Reason Empathy Died
Empathy didn’t die because people got evil.
It died because people got exhausted.
Not “I need a nap” tired.
Soul-drained. Brain-fried. Emotionally bankrupt.
People today can barely handle their OWN feelings —
imagine someone else’s.
We’re stretched thinner than a Primark T-shirt.
Overstimulated. Overworked. Overscrolled.
So what do we do?
We fake it.
We outsource it.
We perform it.
We simulate it.
Empathy became theatre
because honesty became expensive.
No one listens anymore.
They wait for their turn to talk.
Or for their turn to be offended.
Empathy didn’t disappear —
it drowned in self-obsession.
Honestly?
I prefer the old days
when people didn’t pretend to care.
At least that was honest.
PART 4 — You Don’t Actually Want Empathy
This is the uncomfortable truth:
People don’t want empathy.
They want validation.
They want someone to say:
“You’re right.”
“You’re the victim.”
“Everyone else is the problem.”
Real empathy is terrifying —
because it sees you.
Not the curated you.
Not the aesthetic you.
Not the “healing era” you.
The messy you.
The unfiltered you.
The one you avoid in the mirror.
Selective empathy is the only empathy most people can handle.
“I care…
as long as it doesn’t inconvenience me.”
Empathy isn’t dead.
You just don’t want the real version.
You want the one that makes YOU look good.
PART 5 — So… What IS Empathy Now?
Empathy today is:
Convenient.
Aesthetic.
Selective.
Performative.
It’s emotional cosplay.
Spiritual lip gloss.
The fantasy version of kindness for people who don’t have the stamina for the real thing.
Real empathy?
The one that matters?
It’s rare.
It’s ugly.
It’s uncomfortable.
It requires time, effort, and presence —
three things no one has anymore.
Empathy didn’t die because the world got cruel.
It died because the world got lazy.
And honestly?
I don’t blame anyone.
Half the population can’t return a text
and you expect them to return humanity?
Relax.
Empathy didn’t disappear.
It just got tired.
And so did you.
OUTRO — Mic Drop
Right.
That’s enough honesty for one day.
If you’re still here, congratulations —
you’ve survived a truth most people can’t handle even with a filter.
You’re not surrounded by monsters —
you’re surrounded by tired people pretending to be saints.
Empathy isn’t gone.
It’s just on sick leave.
Uninfluenced.
Unpaid.
Unfiltered.
I’m Noah Jackman —
and this… was The Unfiltered Outsider.
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