Brand New Sentence

Birds mourn the ones that die when killed by humans, yet no one cares.

Same for the ones that are killed otherwise, and it doesn't matter how much you care because the natural world is brutal and sad down to its core, we are helpless to change that and if you could expand your empathy to encompass all of it you would go insane. I grew up surrounded by nature and animals and I can't tell you how much I cried over stuff like territorial robins destroying the nest of other robins or the cat bringing me live baby rodents that I sincerely tried but failed to keep alive, or our chickens who all had names, unique personalities and relationships but were just very susceptible to predators, illness, various mishaps and just naturally short lifespan.

Please understand that I am not saying other animals are rightfully regarded as unfeeling machines for which empathy is a mistake to be corrected. It is natural to feel for them, and you're right to say that someone who just doesn't is more of a danger to people, there is a connection there. But what I believe is that if you honestly regard the totality of living things as it really is through the lens of unconditional and boundless empathy, the only possible conclusion is hopeless despair.

This is why there must be a distinction between emotions and our sense of moral significance, because while the former informs the latter there is no guarantee that by itself it will translate into a coherent, achievable intention. The fact that humans are capable of meaningfully coordinating with each other is really important because it is the foundation of what little we can do at all to change the world.

genocides are often backed with a “they are animals” justification

To me, the biggest thing wrong with dehumanizing people to justify abuses against them is that to say someone is not human is a lie, and is a betrayal of humanity. Human unity is probably the most important thing to fight for.