A Dutch student is calling for enhanced global empathy and united action to address injustices, with a particular focus on crises in war zones and situations of abject poverty.
Mog, an artist from the Netherlands, is currently studying cinematography at the Beijing Film Academy. In a remote interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), she pointed out that amid growing uncertainty and rising unilateralism, global challenges are becoming more complex and interconnected. In this context, advancing a more just and equitable international order and building broad consensus for cooperation have become increasingly urgent.
"Justice is an idea deeply ingrained within the human psyche, and one many people strive towards. I am speaking, then, of the concept of empathy. And more than that, not a hollow empathy based on shared lived experiences and comfort or familiarity, but a deeper, intrinsically human empathy for the sake of another person being as human and important as you are, by virtue of them being at their very core just another person," said Mog.
She said that being charitable, even at the expense of personal discomfort, is an important value – especially when there are people across the world living in abject poverty, in war zones or facing injustice.
"It is, in a sense, easy to extend empathy to someone whose life you understand. What becomes more difficult then is when someone lives across the world, in abject poverty, in a war zone, or if they face injustices. People have different religious beliefs, different ways of approaching life, but just because they don't look like you or think like you or speak like you, does not take away from their humanity and does not make their plight any less heavy, their misfortune any less unjust," she said.
Every person in need deserves respect and humanization, and through collective, compassionate action, even with small personal sacrifices, she calls on people to uphold justice by recognizing our shared humanity.
"An unhoused individual asking you for money, or a person online begging for you to help save their family deserves respect. Being charitable, even at the expense of discomfort, is an important value. We might not be able to do much on our own, but together there's a whole lot of people who can all help a little in their own way, sometimes requiring a comparatively small sacrifice in our own comfort, to improve the life of another and in this, to uphold justice in the world in the simplest and most personal way. I am asking you to care, to understand that everyone who exists is a person in their own right, just as much as you and your loved ones are. That any injustice suffered by any person, is a slight we as people should not bear and that fighting this injustice, while seeming insurmountable, can begin simply by humanizing people and understanding their human rights and personhood," Mog said.
Dutch student urges global empathy to confront war, poverty
