America has horrible social services, but the reality is that everyone needs help now and then. Since we can’t count on government to help out, we minds have to fill the gap with private non-profits and personal giving.

In a way it’s great so see people willing to help others, but the problem is that we can’t help but discriminate in how we help each other.

And we’re shockingly conflict-averse on the individual level. We value being friendly and non-confrontational over pretty much anything else. And that brings a host of problems.

One of the big ones is our desire to stay civil creates a false echo chamber for many people. They think that everyone agrees with them because nobody openly disagrees. And that can get dangerous.

When someone tells a racist joke, you nervously smile and nod to avoid staring a fight over an “impolite” topic, and you’ve accidentally encouraged bad behavior. That behavior is repeated until it becomes normalized, and then it escalates.

We’ve somehow managed to be so friendly and kind we’re sliding backwards on civil rights. We’re weird.