This is a very good and intelligently written article, but I'm not sure this sentence is strictly true. The Danes not only teach empathy in schools, they teach students to compete against their own prior performance rather than against their peers. It's considered not only kind, but an important managerial skill, and since they have one of the world's most robust economies, that seems to bear out. Zero sum mindset is found in all patriarchal dominance hierarchy cultures but not all cultures fit into that (although most of them do).

Good piece though. I like the in-depth analysis.