> Working in northern europe some many years ago, I learned that the EU was so committed to helping the poor because Hitler had leveraged their hopelessness to begin his murderous regime.
That is actually fairly common. The origins of the welfare state in the West was reportedly Bismarck working to undermine the socialists. You might be underestimating how much of the world is controlled by sociopaths - selfless love, etc, etc is great for managing small groups of people but it is spectacularly bad at managing large human societies where trade-offs are necessary. The emotional types get weeded out because their track record is, in practice, usually atrocious. After centuries of experimentation it turns out property rights and harnessing sociopaths to achieve good outcomes is a better strategy than trying to fight incentives.
People taking Bodhisattva vows tend to be the sort that identify sitting around begging for food as the best approach. They may be right, but they aren't the ones advancing the material wellbeing of others.
We must first embrace personal compassion as an active ethos of selfless service, otherwise we become hypocrites.
If you think 'harnessing sociopaths' is a good idea, you might just be a sociopath. In the least, you definitely have zero interest in harnessing compassion as a driving ethos for human society, and your being in the majority is indicative of the world's hive mind at present.
I clearly see the direction the world is heading. Our loving worldview is akin to Copernicus's arguments with flat-Earthers. It's a pity most folks refuse to look at Mars spinning in a telescope. But our ability to choose is freely given; whether we use if for good (selfless caring) or ill (selfish callousness) is our own responsibility and no one else's.
That is actually fairly common. The origins of the welfare state in the West was reportedly Bismarck working to undermine the socialists. You might be underestimating how much of the world is controlled by sociopaths - selfless love, etc, etc is great for managing small groups of people but it is spectacularly bad at managing large human societies where trade-offs are necessary. The emotional types get weeded out because their track record is, in practice, usually atrocious. After centuries of experimentation it turns out property rights and harnessing sociopaths to achieve good outcomes is a better strategy than trying to fight incentives.
People taking Bodhisattva vows tend to be the sort that identify sitting around begging for food as the best approach. They may be right, but they aren't the ones advancing the material wellbeing of others.