I can't say anything about arguments other people have offered, but yours is the textbook example of the prisoner's dilemma: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison

I can't say anything about arguments other people have offered, but yours is the textbook example of the prisoner's dilemma: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemma http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemma You're stuck in a Nash equilibrium and something tells me that it'll last until some new factor disrupts it.