I did a 3-month walking pilgrimage in Belgium & France this summer. I had very little money and a tent and walked along quiet roads. Several people offered me a room for the night. (I was surprised, I don't know if I'd offer a stranger that) Many came out with food, snacks, fruit when they saw me resting near a church etc.
I used an app as well that allows camping in someone's garden ("Welcome to my Garden"). A few times I arrived to setup my tent and the owner had to leave for an appointment/event. They left me the keys to their house and told me to make myself at home until they returned(!)
Difference between the countryside and the city I guess.
After a long time, she started locking the door. But she left a copy of the key in the mailbox next to the front door. That was also for her, in case she went out and lost her keys or forgot where she put them.
It was only a few years before she passed away that she had the key taken out of the mailbox.
I did meet a young French man when I was in Italy who was on a providence pilgrimage on his bike, cycling about 150km a day with no plans of where to stay, he would show up in a village or town and just begin knocking on doors and asking people if he could stay the night. He told me he always got a place and was even offered a meal many times, and his hosts were often delighted to have his company.
The story inspired me, but I'm still not brave enough to try it myself. The idea is to trust completely on the providence of God in the form of your fellow man, very romantic idea. I've often thought how the sterile transaction of cash entitles me to privacy wherever I go, its attractive but lifeless.
Agree. A human being a terrible person makes the news, the dozens of daily acts of kindness and decency never do. I remember a news story about someone breaking into and stealing from a storage container full of donated toys for kids at Christmas. The headline was that a one terrible person stole stuff, not that hundreds of people gave stuff.
On the more personal side, my dad passed away from cancer when he was 46. While he was being treated, the nearest quality treatment center was in a major city over 100 miles away. I remember being amazed at the number of people that just showed up to help out in big and small ways. A neighbor I don't recall every having conversation with in 15 years offered to drive for the bi-weekly appointments. Another person in town who was unemployed also drove a round trip because they had the the time and even refused payment.
Later, when my mom was aging, a neighbor plowed and shoveled, handled some light care maintenance, and other tasks without being asked and without accepting compensation. They actually seemed offended when I said I could pay them or hire someone to handle the plowing so they didn't feel obligated.
None of those things would ever make the news, and only the people involved will ever know.
Now consider all the immigrants the Belgians are mad at.
Without getting into which side is right or wrong, the point is that you don’t see that “decency” anymore whether from the Belgian side or the immigrant side.
This could also be the result of group dynamics. Individually humans might be decent, but when in a group, they are more susceptible to being indecent.
The whole compound was on the city's edge. There were two ways to get in there: a pawed road with two lanes and a sidewalk and a trail through a bunch of private houses. The later was not popular because it was longer and muddy during bad weather. I took the second route because the first one was used, beside others, by the sports students. When not in class, these guys looked for an opportunity to punch someone.
Unfortunately for me, I did take the shorter route twice, and both times ended up with major injuries. First time I ended up with the broken nose, second time with a concussion.
It was so bad, in fact, that eventually the city police organized a patrol that walked that road. There were police raids in the dorms as well. I knew two girls who got raped and virtually every student who lived in the same dorms had been beaten multiple times, they belongings taken etc. Same sort of people broke into my neighbor's room, beat him up and took his electric stove (virtually the only thing of value he had).
Very little if any of this was ever investigated let alone punished. The police was poor and understaffed and had a lot of their own problems to deal with. They wouldn't bother to even write down your complaint if you were so naive as to try to file one.
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If anything, my conclusion from my experience is that people are garbage. People don't overtly abuse each other in rich countries because they are afraid of the discomfort that might cause them, the police is well-funded and will, especially, come after the law-abiding citizens first. In a rich country, people want to live by the law because it's gainful and opens a lot of opportunities. This also creates more trust and good will.
In poor countries, the difference between inside and outside of jail is smaller, crime is more attractive because there are fewer legal ways to get rich, violence is punished less and is more attractive as a way to resolve individual conflicts as the official way is dysfunctional. Also, there's not a lot of "fun" otherwise. Also, being "tough" is more important.
If the rich countries were to become suddenly poor, the crime and violence situation would also get worse.