Do-gooders...

People don't like 'em:

You know those goody-two-shoes who volunteer for every task and thanklessly take on the annoying details nobody else wants to deal with?

That's right: Other people really can't stand them.

Four separate studies led by a Washington State University social psychologist have found that unselfish workers who are the first to throw their hat in the ring are also among those that coworkers most want to, in effect, vote off the island.

Parks and Stone found that unselfish colleagues come to be resented because they "raise the bar" for what is expected of everyone. As a result, workers feel the new standard will make everyone else look bad.

It doesn't matter that the overall welfare of the group or the task at hand is better served by someone's unselfish behavior, Parks said.

But is it really? I would say that the long-term effect is negative. Whether whatever the do-gooder is, well... do-gooding about is immediately beneficial or not is irrelevant next to the fact that he is breaking ranks.

In fact, I would say the rejection principle applies to anyone who stands out from the group for any reason. Unselfishness, ulterior motives, laziness, overt ambition... all those behaviors rock the boat, so to speak. When you are (forgive me, but this applies) "team-building," the last thing you need is someone who stands out noticeably.

In Marine Corps boot camp, one of the first lessons is that there is no race and no ethnicity: everyone is GREEN. A combat unit, whether a fire team or a battalion, has to operate as a single, coordinated organism. Any unanticipated action -- well-intentioned or not -- can get everyone killed.**

Do-gooders also go against the genetically-ingrained competitiveness of our inner apes. Such people are, in fact, a genetic anomaly. Charity is one thing, but making other people look bad... that'll get you axed.


"Useless do-gooders!"

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** - The Green System works. Liberals should take a lesson from the Corps. I served alongside former crack dealers from Detroit, Iowa farm boys, gangbangers from New York, ignorant rednecks, Indians from reservations, and even Fundy. Any one of us would put our lives at risk for the others. THAT is what being color-blind really means, not "diversity training classes" and other such ridiculous tripe.