Every technology contrived and 'outered' by man has the power to numb human awareness during the period of its first interiorization. 

-- McLuhan, Gutenberg Galaxy 

Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking of them. 

-- Alfred North Whitehead, Process  & Reality 

this leads me to conclude 

that every advanced civilization is utterly insensitive 

and therefore perceived as ruthless by those it is incumbent on .

this would match what the original inhabitants of the colonies felt about the folks coming over on steamships

https://quotepark.com/authors/marshall-mcluhan/man/

https://quotepark.com/authors/alfred-north-whitehead/