Are Indians Hobbesian? (culture of self interest)
Corruption in
India is a cultural aspect.
Indians seem to
think nothing peculiar about corruption .
It is everywhere.
Indians tolerate
corrupt individuals rather than correct them.
No race can be
congenitally corrupt.
But can a race be
corrupted by its culture?
To know why Indians
are corrupt ,
look at
their patterns and practices .
First:
Religion is
transactional in India.
Indians give God
cash and anticipate an out-of-turn reward.
Such a plea
acknowledges that favours are needed for the undeserving.
In the world outside
the temple walls,
such a transaction
is named- “bribe”.
A wealthy Indian gives
not cash to temples,
but gold crowns and
such baubles.
His gifts cannot feed
the poor. His pay-off is for God.
He thinks it will
be wasted if it goes to a needy man.
In June 2009, The
Hindu published a report of Karnataka minister G.Janardhan Reddy
gifting a crown of gold and diamonds worth Rs 45 crore to
Tirupati.
India’s temples
collect so much that
they don't know what
to do with it.
Billions
are gathering dust in temple vaults.
When Europeans came to
India they built schools.
When Indians go
to Europe & USA, they build temples.
Indians believe
that if God accepts money for his favours,
then nothing is
wrong in doing the same thing.
This is why Indians are
so easily corruptible.
Indian culture
accommodates such transactions morally.
There is no real stigma.
An utterly corrupt Jayalalithaa can make a comeback, just
unthinkable in the West.
Second -
Indian moral
ambiguity towards corruption is visible in its history.
Indian history tells
of the capture of cities and kingdoms after guards were paid off to open the gates, and commanders paid off to
surrender.
This is unique to
India.
Indians' corrupt
nature has meant limited warfare on the subcontinent.
It is striking how
little Indians have actually fought compared to ancient Greece and
modern Europe.
The Turks’ battles
with Nadir Shah were vicious and fought to the finish.
In India fighting
wasn't needed, bribing was enough to see off armies.
Any invader willing to
spend cash could brush aside India’s kings, no matter how many tens
of thousands soldiers were in their infantry.
Little resistance was
given by the Indians at the “Battle” of Plassey.
Clive paid off Mir
Jaffar and all of Bengal folded to an army of 3,000.
There was always a
financial exchange to taking Indian forts.
Golconda was captured
in 1687 after the secret back door was left open.
Mughals vanquished
Marathas and Rajputs with nothing but bribes.
The Raja of Srinagar
gave up Dara Shikoh’s son Sulaiman to Aurangzeb after receiving a bribe.
There are many cases
where Indians participated
on a large scale
in treason due to bribery.
Question is: Why
Indians have a transactional culture while other 'civilized'
nations don't?
Third -
Indians do not
believe in the theory that they all can rise
if each of
them behaves morally, because that is not
the message of
their faith.
Their caste system
separates them.
They don't believe
that all men are equal.
This resulted in their
division and migration to other religions .
Many
Hindus started their own faith like Sikh, Jain, Buddha and
many converted to Christianity and Islam.
The result is
that Indians don't trust one another .
There are no Indians
in India ,there are
Hindus ,Christians,
Muslims and what not.
Indians forget that
400 years ago they all belonged to one faith.
This division evolved
an unhealthy culture.
The inequality has
resulted in a corrupt society,
In India everyone is thus against
everyone else,
except God and even
he must be bribed.