It should be obvious that there is a big problem in society, namely that people don’t generally follow the Golden Rule very seriously. Sure, in a specific case where they know the person(s) involved, most people will avoid causing intentional harm most of the time. But most people generally don’t care if someone harms others in their name, e.g., in political action via the State. In fact, many are all too happy with apparently getting something for nothing even though they themselves wouldn’t want to be on the other end of that transaction, i.e., getting nothing for something.
Why is this? Of course there can be many reasons why people act, but in this case it seems obvious that most people look around them and see that others are getting away with horrible behavior, e.g., stealing (“taxation”), kidnapping (imprisonment for “victimless crimes”), and even murder (“war”). Nothing seems to happen to those people who commit these vile acts, so why not participate in the plunder?
The missing piece would have to be one that solves this riddle of bad actions seemingly not leading to bad results for those committing those actions.
But what if consciousness survives bodily death and the next time we come back here, we have the detritus of our past actions as a millstone around our necks? Note that I’m not saying that there is a personal God who keeps score. All this requires is the law of cause and effect: if we cause harm to others, that harm becomes part of us until we face up to it and take responsibility for it, thus changing ourselves for the better.
If this is true (which I think it is), then the best course of action in every case is to act in the best way we can, following the Golden Rule to the best of our ability. Any slacking off or attempted shortcuts by violating the sanctity of other people’s rights to decide their own fate will come back to (possibly literally) haunt us later. It’s easier and more pleasant just to face up to it on the spot rather than leaving it for later.
So all we have to do is to convince people of this, and the world will be a better place.