From the blurb, there is hope for us yet.

It has long been held that humans need government to impose social order on a chaotic, dangerous world. How, then, did early humans survive on the Serengeti Plain, surrounded by faster, stronger, and bigger predators in a harsh and forbidding environment? Pirates, Prisoners, and Lepers examines an array of natural experiments and accidents of human history to explore the fundamental nature of how human beings act when beyond the scope of the law. Pirates of the 1700s, the leper colony on Molokai Island, prisoners of the Nazis, hippie communes of the 1970s, shipwreck and plane crash survivors, and many more diverse groups—they all existed in the absence of formal rules, punishments, and hierarchies. Paul and Sarah Robinson draw on these real-life stories to suggest that humans are predisposed to be cooperative, within limits.
What these “communities” did and how they managed have dramatic implications for shaping our modern institutions. Should today’s criminal justice system build on people’s shared intuitions about justice? Or are we better off acknowledging this aspect of human nature but using law to temper it? Knowing the true nature of our human character and our innate ideas about justice offers a roadmap to a better society. [goodreads.com]

Since the end of WWII it's as though moneyed interests have work to erode the common good, the heart of democracy. It was the question many had as to how seemingly kind normal people could follow Hitler down that dark road. Here we are again with many following down a dark road and no amount of facts seems to shake their belief.
This is learned behavior, and it has been learned and ingrained by not going after white collar grime. By not listening and denigrating women when they tell their tales of abuse.
To live with resolve and not give up we have to call out the real problem and demand better.
The corruption we see today in WA DC is what is teaching our society and those of us who have an issue with what is being taught better get out and vote and help educate what a living democracy means.

the big problem is that less than .1% of the population run/rule the country/any country & they're sociopaths. the warm, fuzzy feelings engendered by the majority don't matter.

Way back in the 1950s Oliver and Shaver wrote an article in the Harvard Educational Review stating that Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" thrust was off-base and would not work. Instead they the concept that we should be focusing on was "the missing community." I felt that they were right then. Today, I feel that their focus is even more urgently needed. If you can find he article, it is well worth reading.

It comes across very optimistic about goodness in people in general, especially looking at the ideological divide and the utter lack of trust there.

Terry Tempest Williams is a brilliant author and speaks to our emotions and our collective thinking on various issues having to do with societal norms and changes.

Of course, there are those not familiar with her writings confuse her prose using the figurative "heart" with that of the literal and biological one...the article clearly explains that the heart of which she speaks is the core of our being...the article clearly outlines the key points to getting back to civility and core values as well as family and community.

What she has to say is apropos to what is going on globally, not just within our own country. Thanks for posting an uplifting message.