Nah, the evidence suggests that most children develop empathy before they’re 5 years old. Altruism is an innate trait of many intelligent, social species and we aren’t an exception. The problem is that we live within systems that reward anti-social behavior. The laws are to control the minority. (In theory. They don’t work when the broken people get too much power.)
History repeats itself because most people are too nice to take the ruthless steps required to squash corruption before it looks like a problem. Just like we (Americans) were too forgiving of the Confederacy and let those racist traitors live, let alone continue to self-govern and exert power over others.