People are rational. Choosing to ‘be good’ is in many people’s interest – at lea

People are rational.

Choosing to ‘be good’ is in many people’s interest – at least in the long term.

But choosing to ‘be bad’ is in many other people’s interest – at least in the short term.

The principle problem in expanding the size of the good, is that each individual who chooses to be bad has greater influence upon others’ ability to choose to be good, than each individual who chooses to be good has influence upon those who choose to be bad.

In other words, roughly speaking, every person at the bottom is six times as costly as the benefits created by every person at the top. For the simple reason that discouragement, gossip, threat and failure spread fear of risk faster and farther than encouragement, compliment, opportunity and success.

There is nothing to be done about human nature.

All we can do is make it very difficult to be bad.