Humans did develop higher order empathy because it helped unite a “tribe”! This works great on a small tribal basis. The problem is the tribe is now BILLIONS in number - the number is beyond what the tribe model can cover.
Also: the empathy thing has been blown completely out of balance by Abrahamic religion! In Non-Abrahamic religions, you realize there must be a BALANCE between nurturing (feminine) and the competitive force (masculine). We have to all CONTRIBUTE to our tribe (tax, health care damnit!). But we have to limit how long one can stay on the tit! A SMALL Safety Net, but for general purposes every must produce