I think one of the worst mistake a modern society can make is to celebrate virtue.
I had this feeling since a pair of years ago, and realized that it is not just my discovery, but many other have seen this too.
By giving value to virtue, virtue becomes a counterfeit-able good.
The intended meaning of “virtue is its own reward” is that by being virtuous you should not expect any praise nor reward; but it is the fact of being virtuous you should be happy with.
But who isn’t pleased by rewards? Since I am looking for a reward, I can choose being virtuous so I will get virtue’s own reward (not even my own…) without much effort.
An example of counterfeited virtue is described here, described by N. N. Taleb. I got this pointer from my friend Luigi.
I also read that Bernard Mandeville said something related to what I am saying. I will probably have a look at what he wrote.