I'm with you on not always voting for what's best for me if it will hurt others.

The prime example in the U.S. is that when people have to vote on whether to support new taxes or levies to benefit schools, some older people will reject them on the grounds that they no longer have children in public schools. My view is: I don't want kids to go to bad schools, so I always vote for money for schools although I've never had kids.