Plenty of the most-powerful already keep causing harm just to make number go up even more, well beyond the point at which they can conceivably personally benefi

Plenty of the most-powerful already keep causing harm just to make number go up even more, well beyond the point at which they can conceivably personally benefit before they die. Imagine if they could conceivably personally benefit from that because they live for centuries. Why would anyone expect that to improve their behavior?