[froidpink]

The selfish / selfless binary is a bit simplistic to explain corruption.

If your brother killed someone, would you turn him over to the authorities? You can't answer this question by checking how selfish someone is - both options can be considered selfless acts.

If I remember correctly (can't find a source), places that answer yes to that question tend to have higher trust in institutions and lower rates of corruption

[MrMcCall]

"The selfish / selfless binary is a bit simplistic to explain corruption."

Corruption is selfish gain. If one eschews corruption because they realize that it harms the society-at-large, then they are acting selflessly. If one eschews corruption because they're afraid of being caught and punished, then the legal system has prevented societal harm, by preventing corrupt selfishness by a public servant.

As to your hypothetical, I like my friend from Lousiana's saying, "If my aunt had a d*k, she'd be my uncle." Of course, in 2024, that saying is looking a bit ragged.

That said, extreme hypotheticals are not going to get to the bottom of this issue of corruption. It's the ordinary, everyday corruption that erodes society, not having to turn one's brother over to the authorities for murder. And ordinary, everyday corruption is both selfishness, pure and simple, and a failure of society to emplace the necessary checks to prevent it.

"Trust the universe, but tie your donkey."

[IncreasePosts]

> Of course, in 2024, that saying is looking a bit ragged

"If my grandma had wheels, she would be a bike"

[MrMcCall]

I wouldn't say this around your grandpa ;-)

[IncreasePosts]

No worries, he's been dead since 1943. Thanks, Hitler!

[delichon]

> If one eschews corruption because they realize that it harms the society-at-large, then they are acting selflessly.

Or selfishly + long-term. Especially if you include your family's offspring in your "self", which is a phenomenon we call "love".

[MrMcCall]

Point taken.

But most people misunderstand love as merely the feeling one has about another person or creature.

Love's highest manifestation is, however, an action that serves another person's happiness. It can be something that lessens a person misery or discomfort, or actually makes them happier in some way. It can be as simple as a warm smile on the street or giving something to them. Intention is important, and how it is received is irrelevant. The universe is sublime, and there is no end to our learning, if we so endeavor to plumb its depths.

Every human being's life is the result of such selflessly compassionate service, for, as infants, we must be given everything or we perish. For years. There is nothing tangible received for that giving, unless one understands how very tangible inner peace and happiness is. Understanding our place in this moral universe makes such happiness the only thing that matters, to those of us who actually understand. Know that no one is forced to comprehend or accept this most sublime of laws, just as there are flat-earth folks, too, who refuse to look through a telescope. We all have the choice to be as foolish (and unhappy) as we wish.