Over the past several centuries, since at least the 18th, there has been a slow and uneven (but continuing and relentless and ongoing) “improvement” (if that’s the right word) or movement toward equalization in the subjective value placed by the luckier portions of advanced societies on those who are “unluckier,” whether domestically or abroad. Those who were unconsciously written off as less than human have been, slowly and unevenly, accepted as more and more fully human and worthy of acceptance as people like “ourselves.” This process is still of course ongoing and has quite a way to go over the next several centuries. It’s relevant, however, to this discussion because just that improvement in subjective status increases the pressure we feel from those others, near and far, who previously could be and were ignored as not fully human, and now are slowly turning into full human beings with valid claims on our empathy and concern. In other words, the psychological “pressure” exerted on us by one billion “real” human beings who are suffering could well be substantially more than that exerted by two or three (or five or six) billion less-than-human beings who it was permissible to ignore. This is really what’s driving Trump voters crazy. And what Rosling’s stats cannot account for since it’s subjective.
