I am sure there are a lot of cultural differences around the world. I think the test is how you treat people who are different to you. Differences can be in gender, race, wealth, politics or 'caste'. I was raised in the Christian tradition that had a lot about kindness, but it seems people who call themselves Christians are quite intolerant of 'outsiders'.
As for politics, there is a lot of cynicism that is encouraged by those who want to disrupt the system. I don't believe that all politicians are corrupt or self-serving. People do go into it to do good, as in other fields. We tend to hear more about the 'bad eggs'. I find that generalising about anything tends to be wrong.
I agree about not generalising @steevc. But in my country politics has become that murky. It is not like in UK for eg. cause just getting elected even in the lowest level of govt is so costly that it cannot be done by a person just wanting to do good. To be fair, I am sure their intent might still be good. However the modern idea of "ends justifies the means" leads to quite a slippery slope :(
The point about Christians you made is one of the reason I am so irritated with formal religions across the world. If you consider Sri Ram in India, Jesus Christ in Christianity, or of course Buddha himself; they are all icons of kindness in the stories we know of them. And yet their disciples seem to have lost their way in the name of pride, practicality or justified means :(
Still the fact that there are people like you and others here who still hold a torch to a kinder humanity will be the hope we need to continue to build on.
Others have said that you don't need religion to be kind, but cruel things have been done by the faithful. Politics is in a mess generally and can be very divisive. We need leaders who will try to bring people together. I'm suspicious of any who encourage or fail to condemn violence.