"it doesn't benefit me"

continuing on today's apparent theme of selfishness, there's an enlightening article on lagging recycling rates in san diego. money part:

Beyond the bureaucratic hurdles that must be leapt over, Solomon's morning experience shows that not all members of the public are rabid recyclers. At one stop, a man confronted her.

"Why should I do this, when I don't see anything beneficial to me?" he asked. A small dog yap-yap-yapped behind the man.

Solomon: "What about your children and grandchildren?"

"Ehh," the man said dismissively. "This is not going to kill them."

unfortunately, this guy sums up the prevailing wisdom of many conservatives: why do anything if it's not beneficial to you?