I mean, the lens of history is firmly nearsighted on the aristocracy, so we don't have a lot of good data on the normal folk. But smaller communities were not a

I mean, the lens of history is firmly nearsighted on the aristocracy, so we don't have a lot of good data on the normal folk. But smaller communities were not any more or less nice than the larger ones. People are still just people. One somewhat clear example is the Huguenot riots of France after the Medieval warm period [0]. Towns would routinely tear themselves apart. Another is actual Socrates. He was killed for teaching the youth 'bad' things, essentially [1]. I'm not saying that people did not help each other out in times of stress. But I am saying that they did fly apart and go all murdery too. The past was not less rosy than the present, as far as we can tell. That lesson is very important, it means we have have power in our own lives and that our choice, your's and mine, have a lot of effects on those around us. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huguenot_rebellions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huguenot_rebellions [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Socrates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Socrates