Why be good?

[Esquilax]

Evolution, baby.

As I have pointed out in a recent post, evolution is based on survival of the fittest. 

Stalin, Mao, Putin...these men have clawed their way to the top. Life is very good for them at the expense of others. Their minions are rewarded for doing their bidding including killing, torturing, etc. at the strong man's command.

Too graphic? Try politics. Or any large corporation. The same principles may be observed. 

So, have we really evolved to the point that we are no longer selfish and self-centered - putting our interests above others when it suits our purposes?

Hey Randy, serious question: do you know what "fittest" means within the context of evolution? Do you understand that it doesn't literally mean "strongest"? Do you get that it's a highly contextual term on its own, the meaning of which fluctuates depending on the realities and evolved nature of the species it's being applied to, and that when discussing humans the behaviors of your Stalins, Maos and Hitlers are directly antithetical to that particular idea of fitness?

"Fitness," refers to the particular survival niches of the species in question. An organism is fittest when it can best survive within the confines of its gene pool, and the details of that change depending on what you're talking about; the cut-throat, kill-or-be-killed ideas you're discussing here might make one the fittest if we were all sharks, but we're not. We're human beings. Our survival niche- an exceedingly successful one, I might remind you- is cooperation and social groups; we are strongest when we are together and better able to utilize our intelligence as a team. The fittest human is the one with social skills and intellect, who nurtures the group dynamic, not the one who can kill the most people, or get others to do it for him.