Lacking rachmones

A paragraph in Ed Goldberg's letter to the editor of the NY Times Book Review (published September 27) succinctly identifies what I have come to see as the main problem with conservatism in the United States, at least as it is vociferously represented on talk radio, in angry diatribes to newspaper editors, and even in the halls of Congress.

Jews understand that the world is a hostile place, and that we are all of us subject to the whims of this enigma. This causes in most Jews a sense that we can survive physically and emotionally only by showing rachmones [compassion and sympathy and empathy] to others. Those who do not (neocons and other believers in a me-first philosophy) become right-wingers. [emphasis mine]

Mr. Goldberg is commenting on Leon Wieseltier’s review of the book, Why Are Jews Liberals?, by Norman Podhoretz (September 13).
    To double-check the fairness of the "me-first" characterization, I asked a wise friend (Ralph, but not Waldo Emerson, of Poet's Walk) what he thought of it, and he said:

Morris, that's a great quote, and a good way of distinguishing the rightist philosophy. I've always felt that Ayn Rand's philosophy of enlightened self-interest is subject to great abuse, depending, as it does, on the adjective "enlightened." And I suspect that the Buddhists are right that with enlightenment, self-interest falls away.

You see this "me-firstness" in many statements putting other people down, whether it's illegal immigrants, gays who want to wed, or liberals who want government to intervene on behalf of the poor or powerless (or of us ordinary citizens, who are no match for big corporations and other moneyed interests).
    No immigrants; it's my land.
    No married gays; it's my institution.
    No taxes for government programs; it's my money.
    No regulations; it's my liberty.
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[The line drawing is of the Jewish writer Bernard Malamud, who was well-known for his rachmones.]