Consider how the western world reacted when the harsh version of Mother Nature visited their lands temporarily during COVID...a few percentages sure seemed to be a big deal then. Luckily now that things are back to normal and people are thinking "rationally", we can once again see that it is not.
This doesn't just apply to covid - the reality is that a lot of global human suffering is being generated to prop up firstworld lifestyles, and the beneficiaries of that status quo have both material and psychological reasons for closing their eyes to it.
People have a much easier time with telling themselves "sometimes suffering just happens and can't be helped" when the suffering is inflicted on strangers who are far away. The party can continue when you convince yourself there is no child in the cobalt mine, only cool new smartphone features.
