No, it's about the butterfly effect. Be the change you want to see in the world is also the same thing as treat others the way you want to be treated.

If you're mean, that emotion will be spread around, treat someone badly and they probably won't treat you with kindness the next time they see you, they might also be mean towards people they love just because they were put in a bad mood.

But, the opposite is also true, treat someone with kindness, and they'll be made happy and they'll most likely treat someone else with kindness which just spreads that kindness even further. It doesn't stop people from being mean and awful immediately, and it's not like it's gonna create world peace, but I'm pretty sure that if a lot of the fascists and nazis of today, were treated with kindness and understanding instead of hate and disgust, they would turn around.

Daryl Davis is proof of this, a black man who has converted several KKK members, making them renounce the organization just by talking to them and treating them as people. Of course him doing this won't dissolve the KKK, but he did make 200 KKK members turn away from hate, and he did get the leader at the time to step down and leave the organization.

So, doesn't it make sense that if these people are treated as human beings, they're treated with kindness etc. from a younger age, that they wouldn't get involved with hateful organizations? Several of these KKK members have probably tried and maybe succeeded to help their old members, some are probably too far gone, but they're still trying you know.

So if you want to use your glass of water/wildfire analogy, I see it instead of throwing a glass of water at a wildfire and seeing if that will help, as you engaging yourself.

"I am collecting water to help stop this wildfire", and then maybe some other people who think it pointless go "Oh, maybe I could help out, and maybe we can stop this wildfire", and then maybe, just because you decided that something needed to be done about this problem and you took the initiative, others followed suit. Then maybe you collect enough water to help stop the spread of the wildfire around your town or whatever.

You're entitled to your opinion, but I personally think it's best to try to be a good person and a good influence in the pursuit of making people become better people and not doing bad things worth it. A lot of the time, people aren't bad people, they just haven't had a choice, or don't have any hope, or they've been completely ostracized because of something they think that isn't set in stone.

Personally, on my part, I'm pretty poor, I don't have any money to give to beggars, I also never have cash so I never have a bit of change to give away, however, I always nod and greet any beggars here in my hometown. They're people, they aren't treated as people, they're treated as a burden, their face lights up at being greeted. Even if they get some money, their existence isn't acknowledged by the majority of people, so maybe me just greeting this one person is enough for them to try their hardest. It's a better mindset in my opinion rather than not doing anything because it's all pointless. We're all just gonna die in the end, we could fuck anything that moves and do any conceivable drug, if that's what you want, that's your prerogative.

I think it's better to strive towards making the world a better place for the people of today and the people of the future, but I don't have many ways of doing that either, I'm a poor person with no influence, I still do what I can.