Human behavior

I read an article about some riots in the US today that set me thinking about the human behavior.

We are used to seeing people not following rules, accepting (demanding) bribes, being corrupt, rioting, behaving rudely in public and so on in India. We tend to believe that most of those behaviors are fundamentally native to our people, something that makes Indians, Indians. When we visit developed countries, we appreciate the way they keep their country clean and the way they seem to be more honest, following the rules, polite and so on. However, some incidences and circumstances bring out the devil in people in all countries. Think of the riots and cops going around looting houses in New Orleans after Katrina. Think of Government's decision about handing out huge contracts to companies they prefer. Consider for a minute why people drive so horribly in New York and honk at will. Think why the subway entrances in big US cities are not even as clean as our Majestic bus stand.

I think many people are fundamentally scums, irrespective of which country they are from. The chances of these scums exposing their real behavior is inversely proportional to them being caught in the act and being held responsible. This chance is _very_ low in India, so there is nothing to deter these people from being that way. The same people behave much better when they go to, say, Singapore because they know that their a**es will be kicked if they don't behave. The same rule applies everywhere. Secondly, the number of such scums in a society depends on how the society is built up. I guess some of the western European countries have had the best such societies for many generations, so crime rates are lowest there, people keep their country clean, bribery and corruption is lowest and so on. We in India, over centuries, have built a society that does not reward good behavior nor punish bad. So it is a fertile place for people to grow up without many of these good qualities in life. These things can't be changed overnight. I think it will take a few of generations. I hope we start at least now.