I mostly posted my rant just to be contrary, but I still feel like there is something erroneous to this argument, even tho you do make it seem clear and sensible.

I offer Japan as an example: the whole country is very neat, tidy and orderly. People know that if you see garbage, or something out of place, you put it where it belongs. People take the personal responsibility to clean up after themselves very seriously, and willingly clean up after eachother. As it was explained to me, 'If you’re the first person to see it, then you are the person to take care of it."

So you would expect this baseline indication of ethical behavior to translate into other domains. Surprisingly, people who as a group score very well on this test of self-regulation and ethical behavior test seem to have a systemic problem with violence, sexual abuse and sexual harassment against women. aljazeera.com/…/sexual-assault-in-japan-every-gir…

It could be that individuals not putting things away is a sign of a deeper societal issue, but group or individual fastidiousness doesn’t seem to generalize to broader ethical adherence.