what is the consequence of giving up

pushing the boundaries of what is possible in politics and settling instead for what is achievable through political power?

Why do we in the West want what we want? I went down to the beach yesterday morning about 9am. I found my way down, asking people on the way if it was alright, enquiring that I was not intruding on private property and personal space. There were four people sitting down talking and they had washing on the line nearby and I asked them if it was alright to go through to the beach. Their house was about 20 metres away from where the current-swept pumice stones from the volcano were lapping their beach front setting. Yu go this way and they pointed me past their washing and the wall of their house. I felt like an intruder but they did not mind and they reassured me it was perfectly in order for me to go to their beach.

What is possible? Is this type of acceptance and tolerance possible for us in the West? Or has selfishness forced us past the point of no return to humanity?