I recall noticing, even as a young child, that the unkind boys and girls in primary school were the ones who appeared to have endured little or no suffering.
They lived in palatial homes, had servants (whom they often mistreated) and parents who were at their beck and call.
Empathy, although I had no name for it, was missing.
I reasoned it was not something they felt they needed and therefore was not part of what they could offer.
A series of vivid enduring events underscored my observations.
As a chronic stutterer I could tell exactly who would and who would not make fun of my speaking. I could smell the lack of empathy from a distance. They would go so far as to challenge teachers to call on me to read to the class in hopes of enjoying my humiliation.
One of my peers was severely disfigured from an accident he endured as a very young child.
Those who pointed, laughed, circled him and tried to get him to smile or cry with their taunting were those who also derived pleasure from humiliating me.
Boys (my highschool was and is an all boys school) who appeared to have it all found it easy to victimize those who did not.
Empathy was not part of their emotional vocabulary.
It may be more subtle now (or not) but a cursory glance at the headlines reveals little has changed.
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