Our selfish selves

It probably comes as no surprise to anyone who has raised children and/or took a hard look at their own belief systems; as a species we are hard wired to be selfish.  While many people would feign shock and point to the many selfless acts reported in the media every day, let's face it, these are a tiny minority of the population.  This revelation comes after reading about criticism of the Green New Deal and the increasing racism abroad in our country.   Of course all good liberals advocate for windmills, recycling and electric cars, but as many of us will admit, we are not willing to put our money where our mouths are.  If going green costs us money individually, we politely turn our backs and bump the thermostat up a couple of degrees.  Similarly, most of us agree that blacks in this country have been systematically discriminated against since the end of the civil war and this has largely accounted for their seeming inability to fully participate in our democracy.  However, when proposals as anodyne as increasing college admissions by accounting for race, support among whites dwindles to less than 30%.  Which brings me to the conclusion that we need to have our virtuous selves reinforced by government legislation.  We have better angels, but they need a little help in order to save the world.