Is reclining the most selfish act on the planet?

So I have been flying alot lately and I really need to vent. What you ask could turn a laid back guy into the John McEnroe of air travel? Well my friends, it's people who recline their seats with no regard for the person behind them.

You know the type... These people try to get horizontal faster than a north shore prom date. More importantly, they are not happy with simply giving themselves a slight recline. Oh no. These folks really go for it, jamming the seat back as far as it goes like there was a closest to the pin prize for who could get their seat closest to the one behind it.

Now on the base of it, I have nothing against a recliner. Everyone loves to recline. I mean reclining is to sitting what bacon is to sandwiches, it almost always improves the experience. So if there is no one behind you, or you got blessed with an upgrade to 1st class away from the poors, by all means recline to your heart's content.

The issue comes into play when there is someone behind you in coach, and today there is almost always someone behind you. Everyone who has flown more than a few time knows the reclineability of airplane seats is fairly minimal. As a result, while reclining may improve your comfort slightly, it is not a game changer. It would be a little bit like adding a player like J.R. Smith to the Knicks. Yeah he may provide some clutch shooting, but when it comes down to it, they are still going to suck more than a Nick Cage performance.

However the amount of pain you cause to the person behind you when you recline is huge. Basically every tiny improvement in comfort you get from reclining causes the comfort of the person behind you to deteriorate 10-fold. My biggest issue is that I think people get this, and yet you still have the people who recline without abandon.

I really think this may be one of the most selfish acts on the planet. Is there anything else that people do regularly today that provides minimal benefit to them but causes large amounts of pain for others? I have racked my brain and I just can't come up with one. I mean the Bernie Madoffs of the world at least reaped a huge benefit for themselves when they screwed people. Am I crazy here, or can we start a movement to have people limit their recline (1 - 2 inches is fine, after that you're getting selfish)?