One thing I've come to know as a fact is that there is no such thing as a utopian society. Communist north korea is about as isolationist and single minded a country you can find...but the very leaders (and late ones) live for self at the expense of their people. Given long enough, capitalism and materialism erode even the steepest reverent mountains.
I think the key word here is choice. I can choose to hear the baby cry. I can choose to acknowledge the hello. I can choose to receive that meal and break bread. Its my choice if I so choose to. Likewise its my choice to care or not.
Choice is not instinctive, its nurtured.