Why be good?

[Pyrrho]

The problem of course, is what happens if we lose access to our cheesecake and sex?  When there's one potato and 3 hungry families who haven't eaten in a day.  Then 'being good' goes out the window, and we hack eachother up with axes.

I actually disagree. I have seen people in desperation, hungry and homeless. In my experience, I have seen that people tend to come together with the most kindness and generosity when they are in these trying times. Sure, bad things happen but I honestly believe that on average people are naturally predisposed to be "good".

Your experience fits with research that has been done on this.  One can find plenty of articles about this topic, but here is an easy introduction for people:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31761576


Basically, lots of money seems to make people assholes.  (That explains why it is hard to find a really rich person who isn't a jerk.)  Read the article, all of you doubters.

If you want more, here is another article:

http://nymag.com/news/features/money-bra...ndex3.html


For more, use your favorite search engine.