What I believe has broken in the US, UK and is well on the way to breaking in Australia, is the confidence that principles will win over greed. If you believe there is a critical mass of good principled people who will stand against selfishness, then being principled is a smart choice. If you do not have that belief, being principled feels like a foolish extravagance. As many have said before, it's got to the point people have more faith in a zombie apocalypse than in citizens cooperating for their own common good.

"chart goes up and to the right!" seems to excuse just about anything in some peoples' political philosophy.

much shareholder value was increased, I'm sure.