Three realistic principles for nurturing ethical prosocial behavior

The world is in trouble with numerous significant challenges to life and society  such  as  climate  change,  divisive  politics,  economic  disparity,  war,  racism  and  discrimination,  and  violence.  At  the  core  of  these  issues  is  human  behavior  and  in  particular, ethical decision making. The purpose of this reflection is to underscore three practical principles to encourage more prosocial behavior by (a) embracing the reality of egoism, (b) finding ways to merge egoism with the common good, and (c) socially engineer ethical behavior that benefits society. Considering ethical decision making and nurturing prosocial behavior in a realistic manner provides at least some hope for relieving the many difficulties that our society faces.