Cheating, Lying, Cunning and 'Being Clever/Smart' - Small Scale or Large Scale?

Disclaimer: This will probably be one of my most politically incorrect posts ever, if one goes by  the number and range of people who might be offended by or take offense at it. Please keep in  mind that even if one takes this seriously, it should be taken as just one person's purported  opinion. I am just taking my own personal, statistical observations and opinions and stretching  them a bit too. I can claim some fair degree of exposure to both economically underdeveloped and developed cultures and societies, having lived in both for a long time (about even). I am doing this to put something out there, that people normally do not speak about publicly, but think and act on  privately, as I have observed. 

So, you have been forewarned. Please don't flame/blame me for this. I KNOW and accept that not  everyone fits any stereotype and each person has to be treated individually as they are. Any  persons we refer to in this post is a conceptualised, statistical average person, who is fictional. We all might find something common that we share with this 'model' person and it is for us to judge ourselves as individuals, not for others to do so. This is just to get the reader  thinking about the issues and to respond with their views and opinions. Hope you all have some  fun even while looking at serious issues.


Every culture, society or country has, as an integral part of it, elements of cheating, being cunning, lying and trying to 'Be Clever/Smart'. These are things that are taught to its members, even children growing up. Almost individuals from anywhere, have a bit of these in them. Some these traits are purely from within and some are taught or encouraged by their society around them. Those that are  society's contributions are those that are actually applauded and encouraged in a subtle way -  often by using other words or descriptions to make them sound better or positive. Sometimes old  words that had negative connontations are changed over time to make them appear positive.

I will give you some examples along the way and make a summary of conclusions at the end.

Growing up, as a child in India, when my age was still in the single digits, I used to hear from  adults and grown-ups about what was right and wrong, examples how someone did well in life and  were admired. We would be encouraged to emulate them. Most examples were about people who were honest, struggled hard against poverty and adversity and still kept their personal integrity while working their way up. Anyone who did well materially, but through cheating, cunning or lying was looked down upon and condemned. The  generation of my parents grew up with even tougher challenges and poverty, from around the time of World War II and Indian independence. They were conditioned to unfairness built into the  system whether one was of a certain race or religion or caste during Imperial rule and during the  transition to a supposedly Independent nation, yet they were quite strict and rigid in their disapproval of cheating, lying or being cunning to exploit others.

Gradually, around my teens, as I traveled around the country into more developed parts, I  observed that there was a trend where parents would openly complain about 'others' getting ahead  by cheating, cunning, and lying. Some went to the point of asserting that their own children, or  those that they wished to 'succeed' in life, should also become 'Clever/Smart'. This was their  way of rephrasing some degree of Cheating, Lying or being Cunning. From tacit acceptance, if their child learned these on its own, it slowly evolved to active encouragement for those children who still persisted in being innocent and lagging behind. I often heard remarks like the following.

"That's what it takes these days!"

"Everyone is doing it, so to compete fairly, one has to do so."

"If you are not smart enough, you cannot succeed in life."


Once people got over a certain level of achievement or financial security, then they often went to  make amends 'spiritually' by donating to causes or their religious institutions. It became such a  common trend that by the time I was in my late 20s, corruption, lying, bribing, being devious to  succeed (particularly in business) was a 'virtual necessity' for most. It was very rare to find anyone who did not give bribes. The more 'honest' ones just gave but never took bribes.

It starts from something as simple as NOT crossing the road at the intersection or zebra  crossing but randomly anywhere they wish, then it goes on into cutting into lines, to cheating on exams, cutting corners in getting a driving license or water supply, or a train ticket or applying to get a job, a contract, getting elected. The scale and prevalence just grew phenomenally. As long as they 'succeeded' in getting what they want or getting rich, many looked at them with more envy than resentment.


The net result was that the quality of everything that was even reasonably good in life - from  the roads, air, water, electricity, education, medical care - went downhill. All became dirty, corrupt and earned an international disrepute. I heard or realised that India was not the only country going through  this phenomenon. From my exposure to people from other poor, underdeveloped or developing  nations, I saw that they were all going through similar stages.

The people that indulged in being cunning were usually satisfied once they reached a certain  level of comfort or status. Then they would turn their attention to cultivating an air of  goodness, spirituality or even holiness. Many would often be enraptured with the honesty of civil life in more developed countries that they visited or heard about. They would complain about the rottenness of their own country and its systems, often justifying their own dishonest actions as something they were forced to do for survival.

Now, coming to life in more economically developed countries, I see the situation is different. For a long time, their populations had grown used to a system of rule of law, a fair amount of personal honesty and integrity in all the common things in life - whether crossing the road at the right place, standing in line, passing exams in schools and universities, applying for a job, access to air, water, electricity, or a train ticket or even applying for a job. Often some of the very same people who would break the rules back home in their less developed countries, will follow the rules well when they are in a more advanced country, but not all of them. Many will still try to, by sheer conditioning, unless checked aggressively try to get an unfair edge in applying for jobs or work around rules rather easily, as a second nature. The natives of developed countries, on the average are savvy and know that being corrupt or cheating in petty day-to-day affairs will completely destroy their quality of life that they hold dear. This also the reason many flock to these countries. It is inbuilt in humans to seek an honest, everyday life.

The citizens of more economically developed countries are really usually conscientious about following rules in what one would term petty, personal, narrow areas of personal gain that are clearly visible. But it is another matter on issue that are significant  or large scale. On the average, they still accept institutionalised, 'legal' discrimination, segregation, cheating, lying and cunning on a grand scale, so long as it benefits their 'entire society as a whole' as opposed to benefitting just an individual on such matters as jobs, contracts or big 'deals'. 

They want people to feel good about themselves, as living and contributing to an honest, civil society in most everyday things (that without prejudice I term small scale) but also feel good about being dishonest on a large scale, by admiring their 'chutzpah' or 'enterprising' nature!

They are taught in a subtle way, in what areas it is OK, nay even admirable, to cheat, lie or be cunning and in what areas it is not. The media play a great part in it. That is why the people in more developed nations today rationalize big, large scale cheating, lying, cunning or dishonesty upon which their entire society may be founded or based. They tend to commit or support terrible human rights violations in some far away place so long as it benefits their entire society clearly. It is seen as a 'normal rational' way of thinking.
There is a saying  in the developed countries - if you want to dream, dream BIG!


Conclusions:

So, even now I think that overall, on the average, people from less developed countries or  developing countries tend to readily cheat, lie, be cunning or try to be clever over things that  are petty, narrow, selfish personal gain. 

The rule in developed countries seems to be this - so long as your cheating, lying, being cunning or devious benefits a lot of people, the company or government or the entire country or society, it is considered 'Clever/Smart'. 


So, what do YOU  think? What have YOU observed?

Note: Try to refrain from personal attacks in your responses. Keep in mind, these are broad brush strokes over an AVERAGE and that too, in ONE person's opinion (mine). I may well be wrong according to others and I might not even reflect the average opinion of people with my background.



Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2015
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