(Up to: Crime Punishment And Maslow SHierarchy Problematic World Problem Horizons )

I think this is intrinsically related to Problem Horizons - the extent to which a "problem" affects an actor (an individual, a group, a society, etc - see Fractals) depends on where that actor lies within their own "personal" hierarchy of needs. Thus, the impact of a potential problem, and the urge to do something about it, is inversely proportional to the distance between where the problem's effects lie on the hierarchy, and where the individual lies on the hierarchy.

Diagrams to come.