Have you ever lived in India? (not just visited, but actually lived there)
I have, and while of course not 100% of any society is ever any specific way, Indian society is this way.
In the same way as german society is very ‘rules oriented’ (to put it mildly), even when individual germans can (and sometimes are!) the opposite.
Don’t mess with the Polizei and expect to come out unscathed, and don’t expect to get what you paid for (or what you’re asked to pay being a fair price) without fighting for it in India. Or for people to follow the rules if they can profit from not following the rules, even if it’s short term.
It’s just the way things work.
Occasionally, there are exceptions, but they typically prove the rule. (Ikea in India is awesome, for instance. And some individual local vendors are too. Autorickshaw drivers, cabbies, landlords, and vendors in busy markets tend to be the worst. Like 5x a fair price sometimes, or a fair price and 1/5 of what you should get. And in some situations, the Polizei are very kind. Like if you’re lost and a pleasant drunk. But do not argue with the Polizei, it will go very badly.).
Like in any society, these have reasons which are extremely obvious to most people in the society, and may not be obvious until you live there.
In India, for example, when everyone is trying to penny pinch/get rich quick because of a history of extractive behavior from authorities and economic/social instability to an extreme degree (including historically, famines, religious wars, purges, etc.) and so many factions/groups that ‘us vs them’ is just the norm - and once enough people start doing it, you’ll be screwed if you don’t do it yourself. It’s the prisoners dilemma writ large, but when there are already a ton of people floating around doing the ‘wrong’ thing. The rich can get away with not doing this (as much) sometimes, when they are dealing with foreigners, but it’s pervasive.
Or in Germany, when there is a history/culture of strong willed people doing what they want and making life harder for everyone else (in an environment where that can get people killed) but a reasonably consistent and obvious majority ‘us’ group, for instance. In weather that WILL kill the unprepared/weak without assistance a large portion of the year, and requires significant energy to be spent just to not freeze to death for everyone.
I have, and while of course not 100% of any society is ever any specific way, Indian society is this way.
In the same way as german society is very ‘rules oriented’ (to put it mildly), even when individual germans can (and sometimes are!) the opposite.
Don’t mess with the Polizei and expect to come out unscathed, and don’t expect to get what you paid for (or what you’re asked to pay being a fair price) without fighting for it in India. Or for people to follow the rules if they can profit from not following the rules, even if it’s short term.
It’s just the way things work.
Occasionally, there are exceptions, but they typically prove the rule. (Ikea in India is awesome, for instance. And some individual local vendors are too. Autorickshaw drivers, cabbies, landlords, and vendors in busy markets tend to be the worst. Like 5x a fair price sometimes, or a fair price and 1/5 of what you should get. And in some situations, the Polizei are very kind. Like if you’re lost and a pleasant drunk. But do not argue with the Polizei, it will go very badly.).
Like in any society, these have reasons which are extremely obvious to most people in the society, and may not be obvious until you live there.
In India, for example, when everyone is trying to penny pinch/get rich quick because of a history of extractive behavior from authorities and economic/social instability to an extreme degree (including historically, famines, religious wars, purges, etc.) and so many factions/groups that ‘us vs them’ is just the norm - and once enough people start doing it, you’ll be screwed if you don’t do it yourself. It’s the prisoners dilemma writ large, but when there are already a ton of people floating around doing the ‘wrong’ thing. The rich can get away with not doing this (as much) sometimes, when they are dealing with foreigners, but it’s pervasive.
Or in Germany, when there is a history/culture of strong willed people doing what they want and making life harder for everyone else (in an environment where that can get people killed) but a reasonably consistent and obvious majority ‘us’ group, for instance. In weather that WILL kill the unprepared/weak without assistance a large portion of the year, and requires significant energy to be spent just to not freeze to death for everyone.