People with low integrity do this drag others down thing. People with high integrity don't. There are always going to be low-integrity people in the world. Obv

People with low integrity do this drag others down thing. People with high integrity don't. There are always going to be low-integrity people in the world. Obviously I agree it'd be great if there were a lower percentage, but the point is you're always going to have to seek out good people to associate with. Luckily, low-integrity people usually make this way easier than they realize because while a few are subtle and crafty, most of them are not and have lots and lots of obvious tells. For example, if you want to know whether they will lie to you, watch what they do with others, and you'll see that many dishonest people not only lie but their lies aren't even very believable. Essentially, I'm saying you can use this tear down others behavior to your benefit: they are handing you information you need to decide who to (and who not to) trust and who to associate with closely. On a side note, if you were raised in an environment that valued virtue, watch out for the trap of becoming judgmental or self-righteous. I know I had to face this in myself. Social groups praise people for being virtuous, and this is a legit social means to encourage virtue. But if you're not careful, you can catch yourself chasing virtue not for its own sake but for praise, to bolster your self-image, or to gain/preserve in-group status. Look at all these great things I do -- over and above what normal people do, in fact -- so I must be a great person, right? Or, look at all these great things I do, so you guys accept me, right?