I find it useful to ignore the value of consistency when considering people's actions holistically. Otherwise you'll never get anywhere when trying to determine what people really want.
I suggest this if only for practicality sake, as only fanatics are completely consistent with some set of edicts/ethics/beliefs/ So you need to be able to communicate and reason with people who are inconsistent.
Without devolving into a semantic debate, I would argue that people are consistent with their desired outcomes, but decidedly inconsistent with the means of which they achieve their outcomes.
The unstated single standard for the vast majority is "whatever works out best for me."
I suggest this if only for practicality sake, as only fanatics are completely consistent with some set of edicts/ethics/beliefs/ So you need to be able to communicate and reason with people who are inconsistent.