selling out is when a will or belief or a nature, is moved in a different direction from its natural course for (usually)material gain.
it also denotes the giving up of something for the aquisition of something else, of less value.
could also be a 'selfish' gain at the expense of the common,or larger good.
it basically comes down to this premise :-
you can either do 'gods' will,in which case you are guided by love.or you can do the 'devils' will,in which case you are guided by greed.
in a capitalist society,those who can 'sell out' for the most are the ' winners'.
except of course,your selling your 'god' to the devil!
its a nice state of affairs to be in.
generally,if you dont sell out,you have a hard life and die a pauper and your children get diseased and theres lots of physical and mental and material discomfort,and most probable you spend your life in a monastary or temple doing bugger all except grieving that conciousness is a conciousness of pain,but when they pop their clogs,the pain stops,because they go to heaven (for not doing evil).whereas,the rest of us get to come back,again and again,until we realise what we're doing.
thats about the jist of the idea,isn't it?
truth versus falsity.
selfless versus the selfish.
light versus dark
good versus evil
god versus the devil.
its up to people which they make manifest.
'selling out' is simply a cultural term for describing a shift in this state,to what we regard as wrongfull,wether as a collective,or as an individual.
sorry for the complete lack of IDM content.