Corruption in India.

Why is corruption seen to be an endemic situation in India? Because, the person who is corrupt, perhaps has to be told by his associate, that he is corrupt, otherwise, he will not believe that he is corrupt. Corruption is an ambiguous term. Taking a gift, is not corruption, but the taker of the gift, bestows on himself, the tag of 'corrupt'. There is no act, which can be called corrupt. The perception of the act, in the eyes of others, makes the act corrupt. Any act of conspicuous consumption, is not corruption, for example, the consumption by a very wealthy man in business. Hence, a government official avoids censure, most of the time, if he has aquired wealth in office, unless he is in a comparision with other strata of society. This means, that most of the time, he is open to censure, if he has amassed wealth, at the discretion of the public. How then, can corruption be curtailed, and later eliminated? People who do not indulge in corruption should be encouraged. But, everyone is attracted to conspicuous consumption. A businessman is admired by a politician, for his conspicuous consumption, and a politician may be ridiculed, for not indulging in conspicuous consumption. The admiration that Dr Manmohan Singh commands, may be because he is the prime minister of India, and hence, those who perceive Dr Singh, see him as one who is conspicuous by his post of prime minister. Is corruption only for the rich, and not associated with those who aspire to be rich, when they are not? All are judged, by appearance, and appearance has been the basic virtue, when one admires wealth, or intellect, or beauty. Perhaps, the natural element of an aspirational society is corruption. Perhaps, aspiration makes an individual not part with what he has, but rather accumulate, in all situations. I do not make a fault when I point out the above example. What causes some to aspire a lot, and others to aspire less? Would India be a good place to live in, if all lived for conspicuous consumption? Is there anything to like in a person, who is not conspicuous? Can a person afford to be conspicuous to himself, rather than to other people? Is being self conspicuous a better option, rather than being conspicuous for people who are extraneous influences in life? Would a person be more or less corrupt, if the innate conspicuousness was directed toward the self?