Corruption Is Deep-rooted

People often project their values onto others. But cultural frameworks can be profoundly alien. What passes for virtue in one society may be incomprehensible—or nonexistent—in another. Predictably, well-meaning interventions from the outside often fail to achieve their intended goals. Without grasping the moral foundation of a culture, outsider solutions rarely reach the root and usually exacerbate the rot.

What looks like righteous indignation in Indians—especially to Western observers shaped b...