The unhappiness of others

For those who are more-or-less satisfied with their lot, the unhappiness of others seems to be an offense.

I haven't got in mind the excesses of the wealthy.

I am thinking about relatively ordinary people who notice that the system isn't working for everyone, and rush to find a quick explanation to move the problem out of sight.

In the USA, I often noted a related trend--the conviction that others were getting hand-outs that they didn't deserve.  In those cases, I always wanted to ask about the hand-outs that were invisible, such as taxbreaks and other benefits for the wealthiest.  

In the case of the discomfort at the unhappiness of others, I am thinking of a young woman who recently told me that Czechs have enough money, but spend it foolishly--on alcohol or cigarettes or fashion.

Plainly, alcohol can be an addiction, but I'm more inclined to suggest an analysis along the lines of what I once read in a book about poverty by an American sociologist.  The question is why people turn to drugs, of whatever sort.  And, the answer is that there's something their society doesn't provide them.  As for fashion, I'd want to remind the complainer that huge sums of money are spent promoting fashion. 

But, most of all I'd like to challenge the individualist perspective on social problems which unrealistically insists that people have more power than they really do.  There are powerful forces (including the mainstream of economics) which encourages people to ignore the very fact of social classes.

I have to say, however, that the breathtaking swiftness with which the relatively well-off attack the character of the relatively less well-off bothers me.  It's too fast and too easy, and it always leaves me a little sad and disappointed whenever I see this  thought disease.