You seem to be looking for a unicorn. Good luck with that. We are not born equal. Half of the people on the planet have double digit IQs, and half with triple digit IQs. Advantage triple digits. Some people are born to be handsome or beautiful, and the rest of us not so much to down right ugly. Advantage handsome and beautiful. Some people are born with great genes and live long mostly healthy lives, and everyone one else is born with one or more of the 400 genetic diseases that exist. Advantage great genes. Life never has been and never will be fair. If it was I could grow bangs. No government can make life fair. They can make life better and some really try, unfortunately our government really doesn't try and never has. Human nature is what it is and no one can change that.

I'd agree that we all have some motivation based on self interest and that no system of governance is free of that. So what? Democracy isn't perfect — far from it — but it has provided the governed with a say in how they're governed. Socioeconomic equality will never be realized fully, but why does that matter? The argument that we cannot achieve anything unless we can achieve everything is beyond cynical. Just because we can't prevent all murder doesn't mean that we shouldn't have laws and punitive deterrents to prevent murders. Just because we can't end all theft doesn't mean we don't hold thieves accountable when caught. Similarly, just because democracy can't make everyone absolutely equal doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to improve things and move toward a more egalitarian society. If your point is that nothing matters because we're all going to die (i.e., "screwed and living on borrowed time" ), I'd say death doesn't really matter. To me it's more important that the quality of life is enhanced to the best of our ability, despite perfection being out of our grasp. Just because someone will die doesn't mean that their pain is unimportant or that it's not better to not have a life full of suffering and misery. The way I see it, all I ever truly have is the present moment; even if there's no perfect, eternal moment, it's still better when a moment is relatively improved. And even if I'm wrong and your nihilism is an accurate portrayal of human existence, where's the harm in working to make sure more people have enough to eat, aren't imprisoned unjustly, have treatment for curable diseases, etc.? Where's the harm in using technology and abundant resources to raise society as a whole? Yes, I'll die eventually. But what I do here affects the well-being of others. I don't find despair in the fact that the good I do lasts only for a fleeting moment. On the contrary, it gratifies me to know that some of my moments intersect with others' moments in a positive way. What more could I really want?