You have a good point about empathy. No one wants to feel unseen, or like their problems don't matter. The real thing that is required is that people have (most

You have a good point about empathy. No one wants to feel unseen, or like their problems don't matter. The real thing that is required is that people have (most importantly imho) the willingness and also the imagination to think about the difficulties others must face. No one's life is completely pain free, and we could sidetrack into some Buddhist thought based on that. But, objective differences remain. Someone can drown in 6 inches of water as well as by falling off a boat in the middle of the ocean, and be just as dead, but it takes a lot more work to get out of the middle of the ocean. I think that people need to feel a sense of agency, self control, and meaning. That sometimes means they feel the need to greatly downplay the role of good fortune in their current life circumstances, and play up the mistakes of others to explain others' situations. It's an extremely common cognitive distortion, and it causes a real sickness in society.