We are far from an altruistic society because we might count our friends, maybe neighbors, and, just maybe, people we see on the subway as part of our tribe. Th

We are far from an altruistic society because we might count our friends, maybe neighbors, and, just maybe, people we see on the subway as part of our tribe. The rest of society is viewed as "the others" for whom we could care less, emotionally. We can be tricked into caring for them by emotional TV ads (poor kids in Africa need water or are blind) or reading books or watching documentaries about them (e.g. indigenious people, we want them to keep their habitat). But as long as nothing brings us "close" to others, they remain.. others.