100% this. the most dangerous situation is when people convince themselves that their goal is objectively good and thus adopt a Machiavellian attitude that the

100% this. the most dangerous situation is when people convince themselves that their goal is objectively good and thus adopt a Machiavellian attitude that the ends justify the means. i imagine the thought process goes something like "it doesn't matter how we obtain all these money, as long as we ultimately use the money to do good. the good outweighs the bad, and as long as we get away with it, people will eventually forget the bad with time." even worse is when the people who have this attitude are extremely ignorant but truly and genuinely believe they have good intentions. they will proceed to do extremely damaging things to other people, causing extreme harm, all because they truly believe their intentions are good, but often their viewpoint is wrong due to incomplete information. these people almost see themselves as heroes and are empowered by their moral conviction from that viewpoint. i've observed this first-hand too many times in my personal life.