A lefty friend who just loves political arguments, currently living in Buenos Aires, made a rare concession. He’s usually so categorical, certain, and unrelenting in his tirades against everything Trump does and conservative politics in general. I can’t get through to him.

I’ll give you an example. Since the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) began its work under Elon Musk’s leadership, my friend has been obsessed with Musk’s conflicts of interest.

When I asked for some examples, he sent me an article from the magazine Newsweek which said the US Aid had been reviewing a contract of one of its donor organisations that used Starlink.

When I asked how it was that if Musk’s Starlink satellite company was getting money that originated in US Aid, why would it be in Musk’s interest to advise abolition of the agency?

I got no real answer, and the conversation then morphed into something else.

These pointless conversations are just so common now, with everyone polarised and irate all the time. The evil Marxist academics who are behind it all really have won the day, unfortunately.

And the net results? Western countries are crippled in debt without any obvious democratic means of reducing those debts as too many voters are unwilling to lose anything. And we now have large immigrant voting bases that hate their host country’s values.

What a mess.

So, what was my friend’s concession? He admitted that he needed to give his brain some political time-out. He was self-aware enough to understand that maybe the problem was with him.

His admission reminded me of something my ex-wife used to say: ‘When you get to a point where just the fact of someone breathing or walking in a certain way irritates you, then the problem is with you.’

He wanted a political detox, some sort of circuit breaker, where he could re-evaluate his life and opinions.

Rather insultingly, and judging me by his own standards, he suggested I would also benefit from having my views subject to greater self-reflection.

His solution was for both of us to commit to walking the full length of the Camino de Santiago trail, arguing it was an opportunity to reevaluate life.

The trail, also known as the Way of Saint James, is an historic Christian pilgrimage walk about 800 km long, beginning in the French town of Saint Jean Pied de Port and ending at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, northwestern Spain. At least, that’s the most popular route and takes about 35 days to complete.

According to my research, roughly 300,000 people complete the trail each year, with walkers coming from all over the world. As such, pilgrims are offered a wide range of accommodation and food options catered along the way.

People who complete the journey apparently experience a common emotional progression.

I asked ChatGPT to summarise this emotional journey and got the following response (with some sentences deleted to reduce the length):

‘At the start, pilgrims typically experience enthusiasm, excitement, and anticipation.

After the initial excitement wears off – usually after the first few days – pilgrims often confront physical discomfort, fatigue, and mental challenges.

Emotional vulnerabilities surface, and unresolved issues, suppressed feelings, or anxieties from regular life often come into sharp relief.

As walkers adjust to the rhythm and routine of daily walking, they begin to accept discomfort and embrace solitude. Reflection becomes deeper, and there is increased mindfulness and inner dialogue. Pilgrims find themselves processing past experiences, evaluating life choices, and reconnecting with suppressed emotions.

Midway through, the sense of isolation typically transforms into feelings of inter-connectedness with fellow pilgrims. Conversations deepen, friendships form, and empathy expands.

Approaching Santiago, pilgrims commonly report feelings of peace, clarity, and emotional relief. The prolonged introspection leads to a sense of acceptance of self and others, accompanied by emotional resilience.

Upon completing the Camino, pilgrims usually experience a strong emotional release – relief, joy, pride, and profound gratitude.

After returning home, pilgrims enter a phase of integration. The emotional clarity gained on the Camino may face the test of ordinary life. Pilgrims often reassess their priorities.’

Worth noting given the Comino is a Christian pilgrimage walk, Chat GPT reported no finding that the walkers reconnected to Jesus Christ.

What concerned me most in reading the research summary were the words about pilgrims achieving more ‘empathy’ and ‘acceptance’ of others.

These two ideas, acceptance and empathy, may indeed be the two words that are most responsible for the undermining of Western countries.

It is due to ‘acceptance’ that we have allowed so many people to immigrate to our country who despise its core values. And it is through concepts of ‘empathy’ that have justified a massive expansion of welfare programs that are always badly rorted, are unsustainable and will ultimately turn us into serfs.

I’m sure you would meet interesting people along the Camino path, albeit many of them lost and overly idealistic, and the physical exercise would be tremendous.

But any emotional journey which ended up making you more empathetic and accepting, is not really what we need right now – at least not on a nationwide basis. Perhaps it’s okay with your immediate set of family and friends.

I’ll let my Buenos Aires mate undertake the journey himself. With any luck, the walk will have an opposite impact on his spiritual journey, and he’ll come back a newly minted Maga convert.

But I’m not holding my breath. It’s likely he’ll come back even more ‘empathetic’ and therefore with a renewed foundation causing him to be even more irate at Musk’s spending cuts.

Nick Hossack is a public policy consultant. He is former policy director at the Australian Bankers’ Association and former adviser to Prime Minister John Howard.