Seems to be working better than setting fire to them (which was a thing in the 1980s and 90s).

I agree, had thought of that before - it's cognitive dissonance along the lines of "do I protect this person (who appears to be a woman but I'm not certain) or not (because they might not be)?" If society moved more to a model of 'help people who need help' it might improve matters.

HP are also sending me reams of paper I don't need. I need a printer but I don't want to basically host someone else's printer and pay rent on it.