Another perspective: people are not indifferent to the set of ethics their community subscribes to. Ethics help form a common understanding about what it means to be a part of a community. Sure, morality is constructed and observable choices matter more. But morality is an aspect that separates humans from "beasts". Ditch morality and some get that much closer to considering atrocities -- e.g. enslavement of weaker groups, authoritarianism over entire populations -- because after all, "the universe is indifferent to your ethics [...]".
> why not a draw a line here, or over there, or instead way out there?
Do people who are sensitive to/ take into consideration the pains of weaker beings sound/feel like a pleasant group to be a part of? And yes, there are trade-offs.
> But morality is an aspect that separates humans from "beasts".
Over the course of human history, claims of moral superiority habitually accompany great atrocities. Give me a humble ethics which seeks to change that which can be observed, while not claiming absolute righteousness.
> why not a draw a line here, or over there, or instead way out there?
Do people who are sensitive to/ take into consideration the pains of weaker beings sound/feel like a pleasant group to be a part of? And yes, there are trade-offs.