But I think most humans have more empathy than sadism.
People who end up in positions of power are not necessarily like most humans.
More people give a little to charity than spit on the homeless for fun.
In your WEIRD bubble, sure. In other times and places, people used to burn cats for fun. And empathy used to be limited to one’s peers.
People still do things in the same ethical ballpark as cat-burning, except on an incomprehensibly large industrial scale and for the sake of marginal food preferences.
We look down on peasants for burning cats today, but the tragic irony is that their society was far better overall on animal welfare than ours in the modern day, though for practical reasons rather than moral ones.
People who end up in positions of power are not necessarily like most humans.
In your WEIRD bubble, sure. In other times and places, people used to burn cats for fun. And empathy used to be limited to one’s peers.
People still do things in the same ethical ballpark as cat-burning, except on an incomprehensibly large industrial scale and for the sake of marginal food preferences.
We look down on peasants for burning cats today, but the tragic irony is that their society was far better overall on animal welfare than ours in the modern day, though for practical reasons rather than moral ones.