I’d say they do matter in any context. But it depends whose point of view we take.

It matters if something happens with your conscious decision or just as a side effect. It’s a matter of moral agency.

It’s like that Michael Scott meme where his manager is shaking his hand.

Yes but no. Motives matter.

Didn’t Americans really say no expensive gas?

The media is paid to ignore it. And people are too numb to react. Everyone is desensitized to everything that would have enraged them had it been announced all of a sudden. It’s like that poison conditioning. Taking little amounts of poison each time, with apparently no effect. But it’s destroying us on the inside.