tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740849900073154554.post5103155160429696435..comments2023-08-25T17:30:36.937+05:30Comments on Business Musings: The virus of corruptionRameshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11782192840421019943noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740849900073154554.post-78699154740578739182014-04-05T19:40:30.177+05:302014-04-05T19:40:30.177+05:30@sriram - Oh; I wouldn't go that far at all. T...@sriram - Oh; I wouldn't go that far at all. The Brits are in no great shape remember .....<br /><br />Corruption is a basic human instinct - every society has it. Indian corruption is "in the face" because of the pettiness of it - needing to bribe Rs 10 for getting something mundane done. But if you discount that level of corruption, India actually is not too bad. The leader of the corruption stakes is surely Russia, with China giving it a close fight. The US is no spring chicken either, thanks to Citizens United. Its the Old World in Europe, that is relatively less corrupt. As in all league tables, India will be somewhere in the middle.<br /><br />It ultimately boils down to degradation of values. Yes, I sound like an old man, but if India embraced the spirit of cricket rather than its form, it would be a different country indeed :)Rameshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11782192840421019943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740849900073154554.post-88837102247749922132014-04-05T10:24:19.464+05:302014-04-05T10:24:19.464+05:30Ah, you, too, are reaching the depressing conclusi...Ah, you, too, are reaching the depressing conclusion that many of us reach--there is something innately corrupt in the Indian psyche. I have always blamed it on the atrocious caste system. Why? I don't know. I have various conjectures but they don't come together well for a convincing story. <br />I cannot see how that innate structure can be changed. <br /><br />To quite an extent, the innate characteristics are also what we capture via stereotypes, however distorted those stereotypes are. We refer to the Germans and their ruthless efficiency and punctuality. The French and their C'est la vie attitude. The siesta culture. Yes, all these are crazy stereotyping. But, there is an element of truth behind them, however microscopic that truth might be.<br /><br />There is, similarly, a truth in the (im)moral psyche of the Indian being corrupt.<br /><br />I realize that I am violating the "thou shall not criticize other tribes" especially when I used to belong to that tribe. But, the assumption here is that your blog readers know me by now and will pardon me ;)<br /><br />All these lead me to make the same remarks that I made in one of my blog posts: this might just about be the last chance for India to try to live up to the great expectations when the Brits were kicked out. If, however, the Indian polity and society continue with their downward slide, I will be ready to state loudly that MK Gandhi did our people a great disservice, the worst ever, by leading us towards independence. Sriram Khéhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06724218458246880137noreply@blogger.com