I'd say that western societies have a lot of empathy. We notice two things: 1. a general reducing in the amount and 2. a change in the meaning (or construction

I'd say that western societies have a lot of empathy. We notice two things: 1. a general reducing in the amount and 2. a change in the meaning (or construction) between places and cultures. So for a favourite HN topical example it might be considered to be more empathetic to let homeless people sleep on the streets of San Francisco. In the past it might have been considered to be more empathetic to the people in the city to remove homeless people and put them in special nice shelters instead. "What gives people more dignity?" There are other, many and much important issues at play with this example but I think this could be an example about a change in how we think about empathy. For the general trend of reduce of empathy, I think that goes in hand with individualism - thinking about oneself at the expense of thinking of others. Possibly it might not really be a reduction of the potential for empathy but perhaps just a reduction of the applications of it, like how a muscle reduces in size when its not being used. Alternatively we may express empathy in certain spheres of life from before. Different muscles being used but same energy being expended.