Personality. Some persons just don't give a damn. It's all about personality.
For example a bastard can with utter certainty know what is right both for him/her and other people and quite deliberately do something else. That's why people needs to be reined in and total freedom will not work until we as a race have evolved in a way that makes it possible.

It might be more along the lines of the size of the community/countries, and the presence of mass production. When things were far more sparse, i doubt there was any issue, actually helping eachother out was required to survive year to year.

Would you be a bastard to the blacksmith was the only way to get tools made/repaired/sharpened, and it was long, uncomfortable and laborious?
Would you be a bastard to the traveling merchant who brought life saving substances like salt?
Would you be a bastard to the trapper who traps food and gets/tans furs?
Would you be a bastard to the people who spin cotton and make clothes or would you be happy making your own?

Sure! Be a bastard if you don't want tools, clothes, food or preservation (for your food). I guarantee they wouldn't survive long 200+ years ago. 200+ years ago people tended to specialize in a job, the blacksmith couldn't waste his time making his own clothes, rather it was traded his skill and training and tools in exchange for what he needed from everyone.

There are two ways to deal with scarcity. Work together or take what you need from others. Historically both have been popular so no I don't buy that argument.

Edit: Yes. Some people would absolutely do something counterproductive because they're mean or stupid.
Trust me. You meet enough people you realize humanity is a fucked up homicidal race with a large suicidal streak.

Somebody likes Hobbes. ;)

This quote of his seems appropriate (the last part is oft quoted):

"During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man, against every man.

"To this war of every man against every man, this also in consequent; that nothing can be unjust. The notions of right and wrong, justice and injustice have there no place. Where there is no common power, there is no law, where no law, no injustice. Force, and fraud, are in war the cardinal virtues.

"No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death: and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short."

I, personally, like this one regarding the need for laws (defined as loosely as needed):

"For, as to the strength of body, the weakest has strength enough to kill the strongest, either by secret machination or by confederacy with others that are in the same danger with himself."

Or, in other words, everyone has to sleep.

Anarchy assumes you are capable of governing yourself and therefore need no external form of government.

I have yet met a person who meets this criteria.

The ignorance is systemic :\

Just reposting this for the sake of affirmation. I've lived in a LOT of places, and the above statement is 100% true. In some areas you may find a generally nicer population, but there's always going to be sociopaths and narcissists who are so stuck on themselves they will literally cripple themselves to ensure you don't make ends meet.

If you really want to make a difference, vote someone to power who is not subsidized by big business (They're out there, they're just very rare)

And this whole TPP thing? I really don't know what to expect from it. I keep remembering the single mom who got fined $118k or something crazy for downloading 12 songs.

Nope they will. Everything that benefits them is right and everything that harm them is wrong. Things that benefits more then harm is mostly right and things that harm more then benefits are mostly wrong.

That was the plan all along. Try to pass the same crap with so many different acronyms that people would gradually stop carrying.