The Enemy has long used our compassion against us.

Marxism and Socialism are obvious examples: by highlighting the hardships of the poor and the callous and neurotically greedy behavior of many in the "upper classes" those two "isms" created a widespread public mindset of envy, anger, and entitlement that eroded the sense of personal responsibility and the willingness to work, which in turn REDUCED wealth-creation and wrecked entire nations.

Note that compassion for the poor and anger at the callous and often immoral and even criminal actions of (many of) the rich IS NOT wrong or misplaced. It's the false remedies of Marxism, Socialism, and other coercive schemes, Utopian or otherwise, that destroy rather than heal. Our compassion was HIJACKED by those who USED it as a tool to manipulate us into slavery and poverty, with [them] as our Masters.

In wealthy nations, the destruction was almost invisible at first because the wealth stolen from productive members partially funded services for the poor, and the wealthy still retained enough wealth to live envious lifestyles. Likewise, it took time for the sense of do-nothing entitlement to overtake the natural instinct to better oneself and ones family by actually DOING something productive. But gradually, the destruction became more severe and eventually could no longer be as well hidden.