Reactions to Helplessness Very Different From Our Own

People go to organizations for help when they feel helpless.

Whether it was medical, security, or something less dramatic like internet (as it is now), it seems like the groups I worked for were caught in a giant game of responsibility laundering.

Whose fault is it when someone feels helpless?

Yours, it's always yours when someone feels sufficiently helpless.

Yet, this must not have always been the case.

Within our memory, a greater portion of people have begun using some form of raised-voice blaming as the cure-all to helplessness.

What was the reaction to helplessness, before?