I think it’s more than that, they are heavily invested in a rather nasty version of the “just world hypothesis”: if bad stuff happens to these people, like being poor and hungry, it’s because they are bad and deserve it.
It’s the same logic at play for blaming victims or rape and sexual violence.
Because the alternative, that the world isn’t fair and horrible stuff happens to good people and good things also happen to horrible people, is too unpleasant and exhausting to contemplate and requires complex thought.
I think it’s more than that, they are heavily invested in a rather nasty version of the “just world hypothesis”: if bad stuff happens to these people, like being poor and hungry, it’s because they are bad and deserve it.
It’s the same logic at play for blaming victims or rape and sexual violence.
Because the alternative, that the world isn’t fair and horrible stuff happens to good people and good things also happen to horrible people, is too unpleasant and exhausting to contemplate and requires complex thought.