From The Outfit, the wonderful Richard Stark (aka Donald E Westlake) delivers the Truth:

Salsa was a tall, smooth-muscled man of thirty-seven, an illegal immigrant, whose youth had been thrown away on a passionate concern for a brand of politics currently in strong disfavor in the United States. In his middle twenties, he had suddenly awakened to the Truth of Self-interest, which he now realized was a far more important and valid Truth than any Political Truth ever invented. He further realized this was the hidden Truth upon which most of the leaders he had blindly followed based their actions. They had claimed to be struggling selflessly for a better world and Salsa had been young enough to believe them and to try to help them actively. He had actually been struggling selflessly for a better world until he had realized that most of the men he’d been following were struggling mainly for a world which would be better for themselves. From them on, when faced by a man who claimed he was struggling for a better world, Salsa invariably thought, “Better for whom, Brother?”

Happy new year. And let’s make this the year we trust no one who claims to be struggling for a better world.