Tall poppy syndrome is the tendency to cut down people who stand out through success, and it is most associated with Australia and New Zealand, where the term was coined in the 1980s. The name comes from a Roman story in which Tarquin the Proud signalled the killing of rivals by beheading the tallest poppies in his garden. Similar attitudes appear elsewhere, such as Japan's proverb about the nail that sticks out and Scandinavia's Law of Jante, ten rules that discourage anyone from feeling special. New Zealand entrepreneurs report public attacks discouraging them from growing businesses. Researchers distinguish the horizontal individualism of Oceania and Scandinavia, which values equality, from the vertical individualism of the US, which is more comfortable with inequality and rewards success openly.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.