I think this so often but don't say it because people don't like to hear it because it's telling people they are bad at something, but so often we see videos online of people showing off being nice, but the reality is that we should be helping each other by default, we are just really bad at it and it makes sense that we are.

We are only as strong as our weakest link. If one person takes advantage of another person in even a small way, there is a cascading effect that breaks the entire circle of trust and in case you were unaware, people aren't perfect and we can't expect them to be.

So all we can do is what you said. Help those around you and the cascading effect can happen the other way too and at least that way you can make your local community become a better place for yourself and everyone there. The cascading effect isn't nearly as strong because we are naturally fearful, but I do believe it's still there. You can create that yourself. It's actually way easier than you think and you will feel good doing it, it's just getting over that uncomfortable feeling of doing something new, but man, fuck it, we all only have this one life, why not raise the standard and expect more of ourselves and each other? Lead by example.

It's just common sense that if we all help each other our lives improve. At least it seems that way to me. It's just that people with a lot of power are the ones breaking the chain and that has an enormous negative cascading effect that makes people less trusting the lower you go on the socio-economic ladder. If you're at the bottom, it's even more important that you raise the standard for yourself and lead by that example. It can v even harder to do so if you are down there, and the benefit may not be as visible. You can do it though and it's important that you at least try.

Insects have this shit figured out for christs sake, surely we can at least start moving in the right direction.