I'm inclined to think that all this deviation into eternal distractions might be connected to the growing "self-importance" of of the individual, primarily in 1st world societies. Suddenly, we have all become "an expert with a pulpit," in the course of the past 50 years or so; possibly since the self-improvement industry's "self-esteem movement" of the late 1970's/early 1980's.
We definitely create problems with that sense of self-importance. Little Ali on Somalia doesn't give a flying flip what kind of recyclable eco-friendly fair trade bottle his water comes in, HE JUST WANTS CLEAN POTABLE WATER! But the water shipment is caught up because there's a committee engaged in discussing their own "green" self-importance, while Ali slowly dies of thirst...
This is a big part of it, which is why I mentioned the "selfies" - we live in a world where even the "social" platforms are dominated by individuals without a direct relationship to their audience. Plenty of self-esteem, based on poor experience.
Nor does Ali care about trans rights, while he is starving to death.