Meta: this could do with more clarity about whether the expected answer is at the individual or societal level.

ETA

) People should really work on toughening up and growing a thicker skin, it is actually possible.

For what value of should? If you are trying to rationally motivate a system of ethics then you should (instrumentality, in order to get the job done) make it symmetrical and reciprocal. However , a de facto system of rationality can be motivate in a number of ways, including fear of punishment.