unfortunately, my personal reaction tends to lie more towards "if you ignore it, it will go away". I realize that's not a good reaction, either, but that's what I've got... with most problems outside of my immediate control.
where does this come from? it's not my political views. I have some, but don't care enough, in general. I sign petitions when they come around and stuff like that, though I don't delude myself into thinking I'm doing any real good for the world.
I don't think upbringing, unless it's some sort of sick, twisted rebellion against my parents. But I really don't think so.
I think it's more of a "what can I do?". Or more specifically, "Where do I
draw the line between my own life and the lives of thousands or millions of others?" I don't want to be a saint. I don't want to give my life selflessly to the bettering of mankind (or even small clusters of it). I help my friends when they need it, and sometimes I help individuals that I don't know. But I don't go helping anything larger than an individual. And yes, it can be argued that groups are collections of individuals. But I'd either argue against that (given this context) or ignore it, depending on my mood at the time.