Letter: We need leaders with empathy rather than billionaires

He feels that ‘billionaires are consulted because they are successful’ and that Trump makes and distributes money ‘to maximum benefit’.

He is pleased to see Trump in the White House because he feels that we need leaders who ‘do not look for self-gratification and a pleasing income’. With respect to Mr Armstrong, his letter contains both inaccuracies and inconsistencies.

Mr Trump is wealthy but he is not successful. His fortune came from his father and he has made it smaller rather than bigger. He has filed for bankruptcy on several occasions.

The idea that Trump and his sidekick Elon Musk are not looking for self-gratification or income is frankly laughable.

Musk’s various businesses have received close to $50 billion from the US government. Trump, meanwhile, uses Air Force One to fly himself and his entourage to golf courses, costing the American people millions of dollars. As for not needing self-gratification, Trump is notoriously thin-skinned and can deal only with people who tell him what he wants to hear.

Mr Armstrong contrasts Trump favourably to Saddam Hussein, Colonel Gaddafi and Idi Amin. And yet, like them, Trump possesses immense wealth, exhibits widespread cruelty and favours autocratic methods.

Darwin’s theory of evolution talks about the survival of the fittest.

Darwin himself understood that empathy and compassion are not weaknesses but strengths. They are powerful weapons that prevent people destroying each other and protect communities against the tyranny of the scoundrel.

Billionaires, as a class, have generally been shown to lack empathy. We need leaders with empathy far more than we need billionaires like Trump and Musk.

A Girolami

Derbyshire

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