Like the poor lack empathy and then as you go up the bell curve empathy rises, maxing out at middle class, and then again falling as you start hitting being rich?
Because empathy isn't what determines some one's morality
Maybe not entirely, but it's a MAJOR factor.
It's really hard to hurt another person when you feel their pain. I lack empathy for Walmart, and honestly don't care if you steal from them, but I'm going to make problems for you if I catch you creeping around my friend's house, because I'd empathize with their loss.
I'm not sure that recognizing someone's suffering is the same as feeling that suffering. Empathy is feeling another person's suffering as if it were your own. So, to hurt that person would be to hurt yourself.