Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind

The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse.

What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected.

In his new book, Suicidal Empathy , Saad unleashes a blistering critique of maladaptively irrational altruism that has gripped our culture. This mind parasite hijacked the empathy module of our progressive elite, leading to a catastrophic miscalibration of moral priorities. The results are everywhere: from coddling violent criminals to protecting rapists to branding self-defense as toxic behavior. We are witnessing a civilization in rapid decline. Lunatic policies are instituted because we prioritize the feelings of ostensibly marginalized groups over The Truth, criminals over victims, and squatters over homeowners. This is not humane; it is an active dismantling of the pillars that keep us safe and free.

This crisis of empathy creates a horrifying system of inverse morality where the strong and successful are demonized, and the destructive are celebrated. Just look at the insane inversions we tolerate daily: we prefer illegal migrants over our own legal citizens and veterans, permit drug addicts to threaten childrens safety in parks, and elevate transgender 'women' above biological women in sports and safe spaces. Common sense is dying in a deluge of misguided compassion.

Suicidal Empathy is your wake-up call. Stop ignoring your survival instincts in the name of political correctness. This isn't just misguided policy; it is the ultimate expression of a culture actively choosing its own demise.

Dr. Gad Saad is a scholar at the Declaration of Independence Center for the Study of American Freedom at the University of Mississippi. He is also Professor of Marketing at Concordia University (Montreal, Canada), and former holder of the Concordia University Research Chair in Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences and Darwinian Consumption (2008-2018). In 2024-2025, he was a Visiting Professor and Global Ambassador at Northwood University and has previously held Visiting Associate Professorships at Cornell University, Dartmouth College, and the University of California–Irvine. Dr. Saad has been the recipient of teaching, research, and media awards.

Professor Saad pioneered the use of evolutionary psychology in marketing and consumer behavior. He has authored 75+ scientific papers, many at the intersection of evolutionary psychology and a broad range of disciplines including consumer behavior, marketing, advertising, psychology, medicine, and economics. He has authored five books and edited a sixth: The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption; The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature; Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences (edited); The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense; The Saad Truth about Happiness: 8 Secrets for Leading the Good Life; and Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind. His Psychology Today blog (Homo Consumericus), YouTube channel (THE SAAD TRUTH), and podcast (The Saad Truth with Dr. Saad) have garnered 7+ million, 43+ million total views, and 12+ million downloads, respectively.

He received a BSc (1988) and an MBA (1990) both from McGill University, and his MS (1993) and PhD (1994) from Cornell University.