Commonwealth Club Event: "Suicidal Empathy"

Join the Commonwealth Club of California on June 10, 2026 to a discussion on Gad Saad's new book, Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind.

HOW TO WATCH:
This event is $10 for online tickets, and you must register at the link below, at which point you'll be emailed a link to the online event - https://commonwealthclub.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/instances/a0FVb00000ELBZtMAP

EVENT DESCRIPTION:
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.

Saad says “maladaptively irrational altruism” has gripped our culture. He calls it a mind parasite that has 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. He says we are witnessing a civilization in rapid decline, with bad policies instituted because we prioritize the feelings of ostensibly marginalized groups over the truth, criminals over victims, and squatters over homeowners. Saad says this is not only not humane—it’s an active dismantling of the pillars that keep us safe and free.

In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad makes the case that we are experiencing a crisis of empathy that creates a horrifying system of inverse morality where the strong and successful are demonized, the destructive are celebrated, illegal migrants are prioritized over our own legal citizens and veterans, drug addicts are prioritized over children’s safety in parks, and more.

Is common sense dying in a deluge of misguided compassion? Join us as Gad Saad makes a provocative return to Commonwealth Club World Affairs.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER & MODERATOR:

• Gad Saad is an Evolutionary Behavioral Scientist, a Professor of Marketing at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, and a Scholar at the Declaration of Independence Center for the Study of American Freedom at the University of Mississippi. He is also the host of "The Saad Truth" podcast and the author of 6 books, including The Consuming Instinct (2011), The Parasitic Mind (2020) and Suicidal Empathy (2026).
• Michael Shellenberger, the moderator, is the Founder & President of the pro-nuclear power advocacy group Environmental Progress, and CBR Chair of Politics, Censorship, and Free Speech at the University of Austin. He has a MS in anthropology from UC Santa Cruz. He is also a writer for The Free Press and the author of 5 books, including An Ecomodernist Manifesto (2015), Apocalypse Never (2020), and San Fransicko (2021).

ABOUT THE EVENT HOST:
The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. Every year, they present more than 450 forums on topics ranging across politics, culture, society and the economy. Their stated mission is to be the leading national forum open to all for the impartial discussion of public issues important to the membership, community and nation. To learn more, go to: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/who-we-are
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