I can't help but fear that part of the answer lies in the barbaric actions and indifferent words of Rusty Frasher's killers. These words and the actions they describe reflect nothing less than cold dehumanization. To so many, Rusty was just a homeless guy, a misfit in our consumer society, a throwaway. It seems to me that his death, and the relative lack of interest, concern or outrage from so many of us, reflects a hardening of our humanity. To be neutral, then, sometimes is to tacitly support the status quo, majority power and privilege.
Indifference is corrosive.
It is so much easier to look away from victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person's pain and despair. Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbors are of no consequence. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless.