I don't think you have an accurate representation of the personal experiences i have had. And thats normal, yeah?

From my observations, living in a small town, in nearly the reddest part of my state, i see all the same things you see... care for neighbors, church service, community dinners.

And you'd be correct that these are largely republicans.

But have you... talked with them? By and large, they hold some pretty awful beliefs. About other religions, other sexes, about outsiders. They can be extremely cruel and unempathetic, while also serving the Mac at the potluck.

At the same time, I have extremely wealthy family in parts. Right next to extreme poverty in the same family. And all the shades between. And they are good people. Can be good people. They can donate large sums, they can support their mentally ill family members, and set up trusts, But they can also be entirely cruel and unempathetic. To black people. To hispanics... to poor people.

And the only connection that holds true, IMO, is that they are very selfish in some way. The small town is insular, and selfish about what they once had, and that anything new or different is bad, when they themselves were new and different 1-3 generations ago (my area in PARTOCULAR (longest running television show in their main immigrant language in the US) which ended not that long ago. They cling to the idea that everyone else who is different, must be there to take from them, and so they hold everything close.

The wealthy are selfish as well, especially when dressed in the cloaks of religions and such. But all that, to me, just always seemed like a costume or vehicle, to allow for other actions, like being greed or hate. And yo me, most, if not all, those behaviors can be sourced from selfishness.

Now, let me say, democrats too, are selfish. Every human being is. Whether you do good deeds or not, you do them for selfish reasons.

What I proposed as my thought in the first comment, is that republicans are more selfish, IMO.