My value system and beliefs regarding people and the workings of the world have largely been influenced by Unico, the Japanese anime. Unico is a cute baby unicorn that went from a very isolated, lovely existence in paradise into the cold, harsh reality of the "real world." However, the cold, harsh reality in the movies doesn't compare much with the cold, harsh reality of our consensual reality (which I am still largely in denial of, so it's not something that really affects my view).
Creatures were not always nice and would sometimes take advantage of you. However, everyone was ultimately "good" at heart. If someone was mean, that just meant that they needed a friend. So, basically, by befriending people and creatures that seem "unlovable" or left behind, one would not only make someone happy and make a new friend, but improve the world as a whole; this unloved creature would magically become "good." Most people probably realize the world doesn't really work this way sometime in elementary school. I didn't realize that until after some particularly unsavory experiences in college when I realized no matter how much love and forgiveness and friendship I bestowed on certain people, they would still be selfish, abusive, and quite possibly psychotic. Unfortunately, I'm quite stubborn and don't learn from my mistakes as quickly as I should, so this view of reality is still stuck in my brain to a large extent.
I will trust everyone, because everyone is "good" at heart and if they are not being too nice, it is just because they need a friend. And if people don't change for the better, that is because I screwed up and didn't really give them my friendship or faith to the extent I should have. Never mind the fact that had I been more dedicated I would simply have been more suicidal and self-loathing without any positive results for anyone.
Forgiveness is a huge issue for me. I think everyone is forgivable unless I come to some greater knowledge that a particular person has no "good" in them at all (essentially, they enjoy the suffering of others and continue to happily inflict suffering without any evidence of a conscience -- and even then possibly their behavior is due to some kind of brain damage). In the hospital we had to talk about forgiveness and what was forgivable and what wasn't and who in our lives we viewed as unforgivable. When I said that I'd never met anyone that I felt was unforgivable they took that to mean I'd lived such a sheltered existence that I had never seen cruelty in my life. That was really annoying. I can imagine doing drastic, awful things (such as murder) under certain circumstances and I certainly would want to be forgiven, so why wouldn't I forgive others? Maybe if I didn't view things this way I would have less nightmares, but as I said, I am very stubborn and if anything I hope to learn how to be more forgiving and understanding, not less. However, gaining a little common sense wouldn't hurt, either...
By the way, after forgetting much of Unico because so much time had passed since I was last made aware of its existence, I still had very strong memories of certain aspects. Lord Korroku (Unico and the Island of Magic) still remains the most frightening character I have ever encountered.
