Or maybe they'll be more talented?! But that seems beside the point. "If I don't do this evil thing, someone else will, so I may as well" isn't a good argument

Or maybe they'll be more talented?! But that seems beside the point. "If I don't do this evil thing, someone else will, so I may as well" isn't a good argument. There is an enormous difference - it won't be you doing bad things. It sounds like you know it's wrong, but are coming up with a lot of justifications for not seeing it. It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!