My general assumption for the lowest I can expect a person to behave is basically always looking for their own absolute gain, and any attitude towards other people comes secondary to that. So while a person living by this standard wouldn’t donate to charity without some other motive, they would have basically the same answer to something like the trolley problem as anyone else.
Am I wrong thinking of this as a “minimum reasonable behavior”, or is there something people actually gain from the suffering of other people?
This question was born out of seeing how people are being treated by the US government at the moment, but I’m asking about more than just that. People like abusive partners/family, hostile cops, or just bullies in general.
Here’s another take. I think some people would never act cruel towards their equal yet they can easily act cruel if they believe another human to be someone less than their equal.
This is why during war times it is common to develop nasty names and personas of the individual enemies.
This is how I see it too. To make themselves appear stronger, pick on “weaker” people/creatures. Some major internal issues going on.