If I remember the prisoner's delimma correctly, the prisoner who manages to cheat while the other prisoners don't wins more than if everyone cooperates and much more than if everyone cheats. There is no incentive on an individual level to adhere to the golden rule.
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/playground/pd.html
The iterated prisoner's dilemma. The only time defection might be a net positive is in the case of a single instance in isolation; iterated over multiple instances defection is a net loss to everyone on average with the biggest loser being the person that defects the most. In the real world, interactions with people and society are iterated, not isolated, and so the IPD applies.
I repeat: Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma. Its what's for breakfast.