I read this interesting experiment from The Origin of Wealth, a book by Eric B. Beinhocker (paraphrased):
Imagine that a stranger proposes you and me the following deal. She will give us 5,000$ if we can agree on how to split it. It works like this: I choose a split and you don't get to negotiate it, you can only accept the deal (in which case each of us gets what I chose) or reject it (in which case neither of us gets anything).
After giving it a short thought, I propose that I get 4,990$ and you get 10$.
Would you accept the deal?
(I'm not asking what you think is the rational thing to do from either a selfish or political standpoint, but what would you actually do.)
I depends on the overall situation. Not only for me, you and the person giving the money but also on the rest of the external world. Such decision has to be made, not only with a greedy mind, but also with the heart. Not with mushy selflessness. Being selfless is as bad as being selfish. We have to ask ourselves: what is the potential for love in this deal?
Eckhart Tolle often talks about this broader state of awareness:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DgPaoObetE