I think that you are absolutely right, and wrote something that I was trying to say but couldn't find the words for in my own response. I think peer pressure is a huge decider in the decisions that are made today, and systems like the UN honestly could be described as being created to function through peer-pressure (much more so than the function through ideas like "creating empathy"). If the ruling elite are removed from everyday people, though, wouldn't Hunt say that introducing them to everyday people through novels will build empathy in them and lead to change? This is where I trip against Hunt's argument, because I think that today's ruling elite do have the opportunity to read novels and consume other media, and clearly, is simply isn't a method that works. Is there anything that could increase empathy in today's ruling elite to the point of them changing policies and increasing human rights, or is that simply wishful thinking?