Every community should aspire to be like this one. It is so important to be there for others and occasionally put their needs above your own. Empathy and compassion are the two most important values. .
On the opposite side of compassion and empathy we see selfishness. There are some people, small groups of people or communities that all focus on negative values. Those negative values are what they see as important. Someone who is selfish only cares about themselves. They will only do things that they directly benefit from. It is sad to see people like that but there are people like that everywhere. Power seeking is another negative value. For some people, once they get a taste of power they become power hungry. They want to be in charge and they want all of the benefits that come with being at the top. Although selfishness and power seeking are negative values, people who have these values are an important part of society.
There are people in the community that I am from who have these negative values. For example there are some adults and teenagers who understand what power can give you and focus on that. Some people in my community feel that because of who they are or their social status that they are untouchable. I went to high-school with kids whose parents are state troopers, the sheriff, the mayor, a doctor or even teachers or the principal of our school. Because of who their parents were these kids got away with things other kids did not, and they knew it. They would take advantage of it. They knew that no matter what they did they wouldn't get in trouble because of who their parents were and the power they had. Good or bad, values are different almost anywhere you go.
In Eric Weiner's The Geography Of Bliss, Weiner is on the search for happiness. He wants to know what makes people happy and where the happiest people are. The first place Weiner travels to is The Netherlands. He discovered that people in Holland value tolerance.
