A new global study shows that people in societies characterized by corruption, inequality, poverty, and violence are more likely to develop aversive, “dark” personality characteristics such as selfishness or spitefulness.
Why would anyone want to change when the rewards for being awful are so good? Doing the things you described not only make advancement in a dark society nearly impossible, but it takes a personal toll on the psyche and perspective of the person attempting bettering themselves and the world around them. I say this as someone doing the work.
Maybe it makes achieving personal things in a dark society harder, but it strongly helps to improve society itself. And it’s much more pleasant to live in the opposite of a dark society. A better society is not a zero sum game
Healing is hard and uncomfortable in the short to medium term, but in the long term it’s always preferred
Why would anyone want to change when the rewards for being awful are so good? Doing the things you described not only make advancement in a dark society nearly impossible, but it takes a personal toll on the psyche and perspective of the person attempting bettering themselves and the world around them. I say this as someone doing the work.
Imagining humanity as one organism to which you can either contribute positively or which you can actively damage helps for me.
Or just believing in karma in its simplest form: you reap what you sow.
Maybe it makes achieving personal things in a dark society harder, but it strongly helps to improve society itself. And it’s much more pleasant to live in the opposite of a dark society. A better society is not a zero sum game
Healing is hard and uncomfortable in the short to medium term, but in the long term it’s always preferred