But “screw the outsider,” a decidedly self-serving, zero-sum proposition, is played out on the micro-level in the lives of individuals daily. Scapegoats and whipping boys are the results of zero-sum games like “screw the outsider.”

As @TalesfromthHood explained in his post describing this behaviour,

We all encounter it, all experience the brunt of it, and we all – at times – even benefit from it.

When individuals, comfy in their thin-walled, make-believe castles, act collectively out of fear to protect their real or imagined, tenuously-situated power bases, you can be certain “screw the outsider” is at play.

Hey as long as you get yours, the end justifies the means, right? One more tin soldier rides away.

But I naively never expected it in aid work until I read his perspective on aid work in Haiti. I chuckled morbidly. Screw the outsider… the unfortunate modus operandi of some on our planet.

But that’s not the only zero-sum game on the planet.

Baksheesh: Everybody’s Got Their Hand Out

For 4 days of work and $60,000 you too can play “Everybody’s Got Their Hand Out” just like fired Haitian attorney Edwin Coq.

Accused of taking part in a scheme to extort money from the families of the 10 Americans jailed for kidnapping Haitian children, Coq was fired Saturday.
According to the Associated Press article, Jorge Puello, the Dominican attorney retained by the Americans hired Edwin Coq. He then fired him Saturday because of his involvement with unnamed Haitian government officials who were conspiring to extort money from the Americans in exchange for their release.

“He had some people inside the court that asked him for money, and he was part of this scheme…”

Coq defended his request for $60,000:

“I have worked for 10 people for four days working all hours,” he said. “Look at what hour I’m working now, responding to these calls. I have the right to this money.”

Sure, if you can get it.

Yes sir… Everybody’s got their hand out. Screw the outsider.