Standing on the bluff overlooking the largest landfill in Latin America evoked to Hugh Taft-Morales an image crafted by Felix Adler, founder of Ethical Culture:

We stand, as it were, on the shore, and see multitudes of our fellow beings struggling in the water, stretching forth their arms, sinking, drowning, and we are powerless to assist them. 

This describes spiritual pains that Adler insisted we must overcome in order to be more effective agents of change.  To save a few, we must understand the suffering of many.