Morality in Western culture

The problem with the Western mode of moralizing is that it is inherently capitalistic. I have found this to be true in general, that unless somebody has some really substantial intellectual training (and sometimes even then), they will tend to take the moral position that will enable them to capitalize. That means they want to shine at very little cost to themselves -- or at a cost to you, rather than to them. Ask them to do something difficult, so as to be really superior and they will not even have a clue what you are getting at. "Take a difficult position in order to be genuinely righteous, rather than seem to seem to be moral at a little cost? That doesn't make sense!"

When it comes to Westerners and what they take to be "morality" one has to lower one's expectations to the lowest level possible. They are brought up to compete -- to look for any moment that advantages them over you and to capitalize. It is very hard for them to mitigate this competitive tendency with anything solid. So, one must lower one's expectations absolutely to the breaking point.

And then lower them again.