Birds mourn the ones that die when killed by humans, yet no one cares. It’s not about social structure, it’s about considering that some immoral things are acceptable out of convenience.

There’s a big reason why genocides are often backed with a “they are animals” justification. It’s just an excuse to not care, because everyone knows that animals feel as much as humans but accepting it means changing things, and feeling guilty for even “just” killing a cricket. And humans are stupid egotistical shits that need to constantly feel that they are perfect, so they instead delude themselves into thinking that whatever they don’t want to feel empathy for, is just an inferior creature that isn’t worth much.

There’s a reason why kids killing pets or other animals is a big red flag. There’s a reason why it’s used so much in horror movies. Everyone knows that it’s fundamentally wrong and a sign of mental instability to kill sentient beings, and yet everyone pretends like it’s normal as soon as it involves changing their behaviour.

Why is it ok to eat birds that have very developed social intelligence, but not dogs and cats? Because dogs and cats are seen emotionally, birds aren’t.

And if you can switch your empathy on and off, you can do it for whatever, and whoever.

What you’re describing doesn’t allow humans to function, it allows Israel to commit genocide, it allows nazis to get control of the world little by little, and most of the shit of the modern world. Selective empathy is never a good thing, and even prehistoric men had more empathy than the current, “modern” human. That says a lot.