[bilbo0s]

Not just the circumstances you grew up in either. You can grow up with a silver spoon in your mouth, or poor as a church mouse. You get imparted the best morals in both cases. And you'll still be prone to participate in corruption given the correct circumstances when you reach that stage.

It doesn't surprise me that we find participation in corruption increasing as news of corruption increases. Especially when you feel like people get away with it. One of the factors controlling whether or not people engage in these activities is how pervasive the activity is in society. Another is whether or not a person thinks they'll get away with it? If they believe they will, they're more likely to engage in corruption. And the more they see others get away with corruption, the more they think they themselves can get away with it.

I liken it to speeding. To many drivers it appears pervasive, and they often see many other drivers get away with speeding. So the circumstances one grew up in won't have nearly as big an impact on anti-speeding behavior as seeing the flashing blue lights of highway patrol vehicles every few miles.

[BehindBlueEyes]

Add to that in some cases, you might get in more "trouble" for not engaging in corruption. To use pier25's example again, someone who does't pay to skip the line might not get a turn if many others do and waste a bunch of time, have to come back the next day, potentially to the same effect. Or if you don't pay the expected bribe at a checkpoint, cops might find something wrong with your car lands you a more expensive fine (actual fine with paper trail + bribe instead of just bribe). You could argue that's extortion and not corruption but same principle to me. During Covid lockdown, a friend needed to pay bribes to get a pass for their family to be able to do their shopping. It was supposed to be one pass per house in their area, but the owner of the neighborhood held them back and kept several for the own family, so no bribe, no trip to the store... Better to pay the bribe to the owner than risk it with the cops checking permits on the street.

This is just to say, taking part in corruption may not be optional where it is the norm, regardless of a person's education or morals.

[MrMcCall]

"You get imparted the best morals in both cases."

That is simply not true, for the vast majority of the world's cultures and societies.

Yes, we all have a conscience (inner moral compass), but few of us are taught how to hone and develop it over one's lifetime, using one's intellect to improve our thought processes to be better, more virtuous, human beings.

We are the only creatures that self-evolve, and it is precisely our moral nature that puts this severe responsibility upon us to nurture selfless universal compassion as a personal and societal imperative. Otherwise, we wreak destruction on our blessed Mother Earth and our fellow human beings. We are to use our gifts to create happiness for each other, not misery.

We have the free will to ignore this moral imperative. Look at the state of global heating to gauge its prevalence.

[bilbo0s]

I was giving 2 hypothetical examples. If someone grows up rich, or if someone grows up poor. It won't matter what you teach them. Nor will it matter their morals if they go out into a world where corruption is pervasive and corruption is rarely, if ever, punished. Those two hypothetical people, and any other human, would fall into the pattern of engaging in corruption.

You can't stop it with upbringing.

[MrMcCall]

"You can't stop it with upbringing."

You're right; we all have the choice to be saints or demons, or anywhere in between! We can be one on one day and the other on others.

What is important is to teach empathy as the antidote to bullying, and then have those individuals construct their society's laws to prevent and/or punish bullying of all kinds. Same with govt corruption, of course.

"any other human, would fall into the pattern of engaging in corruption."

I wouldn't, because I honor my sense of honor, of truth. I can raise my voice and say, without hesitation, that I am incorruptible, because I choose to be this way, because it strengthens my inner peace and happiness. I was not always like this, but I have learned to be this way and appreciate feeling the joy of having self-evolved myself in this direction.

It is each person's choice. That most are choosing poorly is academic, if one sees what the world is becoming, and knows what the world could be, if only our design was based upon selfless, compassionate cooperation instead of selfish, callous competition.