The use of the word “everyone” is technically incorrect but I can imagine that I would not be the only person to take that deal so while you might not take the deal, I think that so many people would that by the time I ever got there, there would be no diamonds left.
It is certainly an assumption that people are like me in that they care more about laws than morals but I also see that when something immoral is made legal, people don’t abstain.
I mean when you look at social programs, you can see that when the legal penalty of stealing is taken out, people will steal and line their own pockets with money they know not to be theirs. They come up with all sorts of pseudo rationalizations and call it a day but the lack of legal consequence gives grounds for such behavior in the first place.
Murder is just an act (like theft), people can attach any moral significance they want to it, but it’s an act like any other. If a person believes they have more to gain by murder than they do to lose, it seems questionable to assume that they’ll attach a so called “psychic penalty” to the act in order to control themselves. Either way, I know that I don’t attach such a high significance to moral considerations that I allow them to overrule more material concerns.
In this example, I’ve been told I stand to gain diamonds and that I might feel guilty about it. I only wish I could go to the diamond store right now and trade a feeling for diamonds. I can make feelings appear out of nowhere and make them go away just the same but I cannot summon forth diamonds from nowhere.