That is to say, "if you are a typical, debased utilitarian (simplistic, and blind even to your own values)..." -------------
I prefer to attack bad ideas on their own terms when possible: This bypasses a layer of intellectual armor and concentrates fire on a soft spot. For example:
Genuine "utility" corresponds to what people actually value, which includes a more than just money and what it can buy. Confused utilitarians, out to maximize wealth instead of utility, are simply wrong by their own standards. What people actually value includes their relationships, the well-being of others, and a lot more.
So, no need to attack utilitarianism or self-interest here; we can save that effort for another war. (Hmmm... If people understood the reality of the hedonic treadmill, then what?)
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It's a key element in this Economic Madness that all utility must be measured in monetary terms to the maximum extent possible, and all relationships must be commodified.
Of course this is nuts, and it's at the core of our pathology.
But while that minor detail is sorting itself out in a collision with the real world, we're left with the fact that it's a rare neoliberal who can accept that monetary utility isn't the ultimate measure of everything that matters, and that the magic of the markets creates more utility for everyone.
(Or at least, for everyone who matters.)
