I'm not sure the things you talk about are dehumanization. In capitalism, for sure. The way Amazon uses bots to "write up" staff for not working fast enough or taking too long to pee, and then letting robots fire workers with no human intervention -- that's dehumanization.

But the topics you talk about -- kids in cages and such -- maybe there's an element of overwhelm. Like trying to take a drink of water from a firehose. Psychology tells us that shutdown and apathy are normal reactions to overwhelm and fear.

And we are overwhelmed and afraid. Half of us have no financial security. Even Maslow said people cannot worry about greater issues when they are worried about putting food on the table. I think that's important to factor in.

Many great points here, just not sure I agree it's dehumanization so much as overwhelm. stress and shutdown.