"what if everyone else acted that way"

   Jean-Paul Sartre explains that man chooses to be who he is and he is nothing else than what he makes of himself.  Man is also responsible for all men around him.  These concepts are essential to the functioning of a human community. 

When I was young my dad once told me "what if everyone else acted that way" when I asked why littering was bad or acting like an idiot was bad and even why stealing is bad.  Because not everyone is engaging in what is considered destructive or wrong behavior it is often thought that it is okay to act in this way. In a way, stealing is permissible because there exists a store in which people buy materials. But if everyone stole there would be no store.  Our whole system of interdependence would collapse.  Corruption is seemingly an inevitable part of human existence, and although corruption may be hidden, it undermines the systems of government and justice which, because there is no god to give us values directly, are created by humans.  In order for society to succeed we must follow the rules we made for each other.