Griffin Pontius epilogue, question 6

Durning the epilogue, Wheelan points out that humans are in fact, lazy.  As much of a shock that is to all of us, Wheelan uses an example that caught my attention.  While he discusses the question, "Will we use the market in imaginatative ways to solve social problems?" Perhaps 'lazy' is the wrong word, a more appropriate (and econmic) title would be, there is less of an incentive to help the world for lack of a monetary benefit.  Anyhow, Wheelan in answering this question almost rants about issues in the world and how they could be solved; the problems remain unsolved because there is no incentive strong enough for us to fix the given issue. This passage stuck out because it seems like common sense that to me that we should all try to better the world in some way, yet a lot of the time, we do the oppisite.  We posese so much potential as a planet that isn't utilized because of lack of incentive, or return in the investment.  It's a sort of dull thought that is almost frustrating.