House MD Pilot

Absolutely true and stating otherwise is just crowd control.

There’s very few things more galling than yourself playing by the rules, putting in the time and effort to have some kind of social contract, only to have someone flippantly disregard said rules and contract and to benefit from it. Doesn’t matter if it’s someone cutting in line or pillaging the highest office in the land for their own gain.

I'll die poor with morals rather than rich and evil. I'm okay with that.

The Evolution of Trust

That depends on how much people with morals stick together. People are isolated so that they can be manipulated.

Depends what you mean by "further". It is a trait that definitely serves well in some very lucrative areas like business or politics. But it very easy to ruin other aspects of your life like your relationships, your public image, and can run you afoul of the law. In areas of work where your image is paramount, being a liar and manipulator usually only gets you so far because it's very hard to maintain those lies and hide the manipulation under massive public scrutiny, particularly if you're doing illegal stuff in addition to it. Of course the wealthier you are, or the more fanatical your following, the more you will have others lie and manipulate on your behalf, so... accountability can decrease that way.

I've been self-employed for about 30 years, which puts you rubbing elbows with other self-employed business people.

I have learned that while MOST people want to run a friendly, moral, legal business, and would never cross the line, there are a plenty of amoral businesspeople who don't have any problems crossing the line.

Furthermore, they are well-aware that many businesspeople won't cross the line, so that makes their willingness to act illegally or immorally their personal competitive edge, and they absolutely look at it that way.

They watch for decent, moral businesses, and they target them in various ways, either as a competitor, a supplier, a contractor, etc.

It's almost always been this case since the beginning of mankind. Being good does more harm than being bad.

Unless you meet someone like me, who does not wait for aithorities to resolve things.

My co-workers did that literally hours ago, admited everything within moments.

Ha, not really. If your only measure of success is your bank account then you're playing high risk / reward with a dishonest strategy that either lands you in prison or a jacuzzi.

Then when you get to the really bad end of the spectrum, well...

Do you think Hitler smiled as he killed himself? Do you think his confidants died easy? Evil people make their own lives shit, they just drag everyone else down with them. I see Elon Musk and Donald Trump in the news on the verge of tears every other day because everyone hates them.

While feeling numb and miserable

Unless you’re mediocre at it and have adhd and then it’s just easier to always tell the truth so you don’t have to forget about something.

I wish this wasn't true, but it's tragic that it is.