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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   1449 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 30, 2025

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This post on "izzat" an Indian cultural honor system, went viral recently. I know we have at least a few Indian users here - how accurate is this characterization? Of course it's probably hard to generalize too much given the fragmented nature of India along cultural, linguistic, religious, and ethnic lines.

Here is the text in a non-image format from /r/askindia - the wide range of responses is interesting.

I watched this explode on Twitter and 4Chan last week. I think it will stick even as people make arguments about how its an Urdu word and not Hindu. People believe it pattern matches too well to a certain type of 'be the winner' or 'get one over them' behaviour so I can't see it disappearing anytime soon. This isn't purely an Indian concept, I've seen this type of thing in mainland Chinese behaviour too.

I see it as self-destructive suicidally empathetic 'white' high trust cultures developing an immune response to low trust behaviour in real time. Putting a label on the concept is just the first step in responding to the Eternal September of Indians (and other cultures) entering the West physically and online.

edit: Should make it clear I'm not Indian and I'm a heritage Westerner.

2nd edit: I'm surprised 'Izzat' hasn't blown up into a CWR top level post yet. Aukat is another key word I've heard mentioned in this context.

A lot of cultures have this pattern of behavior. Especially low-trust cultures. Not every one has a scary foreign word to attribute it to, but I saw it many times. In Russian culture, especially with its lower rungs which are thoroughly imbued with prison culture, this is a pretty common pattern. In Israeli culture, again especially among lower rungs (keyword: ars), this approach to every interaction being zero sum win/lose exists and getting one over somebody is highly valued. I am sure there are a lot of other cultures where the same pattern exists, because it's a common human pattern. Not sure why the Urdu term would be any better to use than any other meaning "honor culture" and describing common failure mode of honor cultures. But pattern existing in a culture and the whole culture (or set of cultures) being subjugate to one and single dominating pattern are very different things.

A lot of cultures have this pattern of behavior. Especially low-trust cultures. Not every one has a scary foreign word to attribute it to, but I saw it many times. In Russian culture, especially with its lower rungs which are thoroughly imbued with prison culture, this is a pretty common pattern. In Israeli culture, again especially among lower rungs (keyword: ars), this approach to every interaction being zero sum win/lose exists and getting one over somebody is highly valued.

Lot of low-trust cultures have strong ingroup preference and honor culture, but it looks like the Indian version is somehow more anarchical. For example, various cultures of the Caucasus have clans, vendettas (which force clan members to police the behavior of their youngsters to avoid murder spirals) and absolute honor of old age (which allows clan elders to negotiate the end of vendettas without risking their lives and losing face). Russian prison culture has its own hierarchy, with the honor and authority of the senior ranking members dependent among other things on their resolution of disputes according to the spirit of the law or the mos maiorum.

Russian prison culture has its own hierarchy, with the honor and authority of the senior ranking members dependent among other things on their resolution of disputes

The actual prison culture does, but street thug culture influenced by echoes of the prison culture doesn't respect any of that. If such thug gets into prison, he'd be either forced to adapt and learn respect, or will be killed. But while they are out there - and many of them are low-level enough to never get to prison - they don't have any such hierarchy.

Every district has a smotryaschiy that oversees local thugs. If they don't learn to show obeisance, they are... educated.

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