Yeah, but my ox is being gored.

One of the descriptors of a culture is its principles. That is, the directives that guide the conduct of decent people because they believe that the principles are right. The principles teach us that they, themselves, are really more important than other things like residences, automobiles, trips to the coast, Starbucks Coffee, selling a liability property. But in bad times, when other "things" are being taken, marginally decent people let their principles go with the other "things." Principles like staying responsible for the people reliant upon us; sticking to the rules agreed upon with the people relying upon us; not favoring the position of new people who can give us a better deal. If The Doser were a cynic, he would probably suspect that all of us are marginally decent depending on the exigence of the circumstances.