Not confused, not depressed, but actually quite happily in agreement with your rumination!

I have had a wonderful brush with the extremes of sociopath behaviour in watching a company I worked hard for over a 7 year period let one of the wolves in the door and stand idol and watch his behaviour in abstract horror... it surprised everyone to the point that the company is now firmly on it's knees and most of the brains have left or been pushed. The problem is you simply can't believe what people are willing to do for power, money, notoriety or even a little pat on the back (gotta love those little brown-nosers who would kill their grandma with a blunt spoon for a desk closer to the boss). Just when you think you've seen the worst, something pushes it to the next level...

When I think back on certain aspects of the behaviour I witnessed, it was also amazing to see how sociopathic behaviour, once accepted, begins to bring the worst out of others who are not sociopathic, but shall we say morally challenged. One enterprising individual who was closely aligned to the sociopath (by design), found himself bedding one of his direct employees while his wife was pregnant with his 3rd child; the son he'd always wanted! Not once mind you, but over a 6 month period! He only found the strength to come clean once the baby was 5 days old (at least he was a gentleman and waited). The one he was bedding was a 'leader' in their collective team, but reported into him. Once the sociopath (the boss of both of them) became aware of the situation, everyone expected that one of the participants would be shown the door due to the moral issue and lack of respect it began to fester in the team... but alas no... they were both the recipient of promotions within two months of their shock announcement regarding their new status as a couple. The best part was this gave all three of them more time to socialise in front of those actually working.

This is only a single example, but there were many, many more. One leads to more... the air is poisoned. Capitalism, while something we all believe in, has a tendency to help boost the levels of sociopathic 'give it to me' behaviours. That's obvious, but it doesn't have to be that way. As you say Sinbob, spreading your income through more generous means (Tips, hiring disabled workers ect.) soothes your own soul, and really isn't that the basis for everything you really do? There is self interest in everyone, it's making sure it's the right kind of self interest... not at the expense of others, but in boosting others and thus boosting yourself. I actually believe this is one of the cornerstones of our changing economic environment. As I said in previous posts, the world of finance has fundamentally changed. There has been a fissure in the landscape and the Goldman Sacs folks are simply the last gasps of modern greed culture. I wonder how we will view the "naughties" in the end? Personally I think it has been a repeat of the "excess 80's" without the honesty (Greed is Good! vs. Dude, I deserve the bonus cause I'm... uh... smarter :))...