There’s considerable scholarship arguing the opposite. As my colleague Steven Pearlstein, who now teaches economics at George Mason University, argues in a chapter titled “Is Greed Good?” in a forthcoming book, we’re programmed for intergenerational fairness and generosity. Indeed, our republic was founded as a commonwealth, to protect values that were taken to be “self-evident.” Officeholders take a vow to “preserve, protect and defend” the nation.