Indians versus Westerners

I was brought up on a staple diet of ' Indians are great human beings from a centuries old civilisation; while the westerners are upstarts with totally materialistic dispositions'. Well, I have seen light in the last about 20 years.
Generalisations are always wrong but here I am using them to make a point.
Indians seem to be about the most cruel, selfish and inhuman people you can ever come across. We rape young girls, slit the stomachs of young mothers, burn people by putting tyres around them and vandalise the helpless in ways a westerner can not even dream of. Our people in power - government, police, other officials etc - are actually the cause of all our miseries.There is absolutely no hope.
As for being materialistic, you just can't beat an Indian. And the bigger the tika on the forehead, the more materialistic the guy is.
On the other hand, westerners are pretty decent people.