Why more communities can do better
Some people will choose not to assist you—even if you have skills and good intentions that will benefit the community.
These are self-, group-interest people, racists, and tribalists. They treat you differently because of where you come from or the colour of your skin.
They do not mind you getting lost and never accomplishing anything meaningful with your talents and goodwill—in fact this is what they want to see happen to you.
They are anti- reforms, competition, and innovation. They love status quo, and hate change—the only constant phenomenon in life. They want you out of the community.
If you live among these people or find yourself in this kind of community, first, you must identify this class of people and separate them from the tolerant class. Second, you must rely on your wits or fists—or both, strategically—to survive and make progress.
Third, your own attitude too can hinder your survival and progress in this kind of community. Your attitude, therefore, must be transformative: You will use the negative energy in the community to your advantage, focusing on cultivating the skills you need to be independent of the system and its politics. To do this, you must move closer to the tolerant class, making this class your base from which you will court the intolerant class.
And fourth, you will also draw lessons and inspiration from people around you and historical figures who failed to or rose above these odds and made progress.
Remember: communities can do better where there's more tolerance of diversity. But where there's more of intolerance, you must rely on your wits or fists to survive and make progress.