Compassion will always be intermittent and fall prey to the factors you cited if not a foundational component of an individual's personal code.
As an experiment, in 2012 I spent a week on the road to hand-deliver a letter of need (not my own) to 25 of the largest philanthropists to liberal causes. Not one of them responded or helped personally, six of them had a staffer send a form letter of rejection.
My conclusion is that compassion is too often valued only when self-serving. i.e. Dozens of uber-wealthy donate to charities that support the homeless and/or drug addicted, but view the "actual people" who collectively define the issue with suspicion and disdain.
As an experiment, in 2012 I spent a week on the road to hand-deliver a letter of need (not my own) to 25 of the largest philanthropists to liberal causes. Not one of them responded or helped personally, six of them had a staffer send a form letter of rejection.
My conclusion is that compassion is too often valued only when self-serving. i.e. Dozens of uber-wealthy donate to charities that support the homeless and/or drug addicted, but view the "actual people" who collectively define the issue with suspicion and disdain.