I'm starting to really dislike that quote, because these people absolutely understand, they just don't care because it doesn't affect them directly.

“It’s difficult to get a person to care about something when their salary depends on not caring about it”

Updated it for you ;)

Disagree. People rationalize. Change the motivations and you get a different sincerely held rationalization.

Look at TFA. Decades of a top US ally being a human rights disaster, noone in the media cared. Until one journalist is killed..

I think Upton Sinclair assumed roughly that but was being a little sarcastic. In practice the people often do care and will go to great efforts to avoid the truth to further their own interests.