Bribery: The Illegal Gift To Avoiding Consequences
“What's the n-never-fail universal apology?" "'I was badly misinformed, I deeply regret the error, go fuck yourself with this bag of money.” ― Scott Lynch
MENTAL MODEL
Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or acceptance of a favor in exchange for an official action. The purpose of bribery is to influence the actions of a recipient. Particularly someone in official duty. They would then be incentivized to act contrary to their role and known rules. A bribe is an unethical gift and/or lobbying effort in an attempt to manipulate the recipient. It can be money, goods, rights, property, privilege, objects of value, advantage, a promise, or vote. Bribery is illegal, especially in the context of influencing somebody in an official post.
Bribery has, over time, resulted in negative effects on society and trade. When bribery is part of the social norm, the approach most people take is to do nothing about it and participate. Severe punishment doesn’t necessarily deter people from bribery. Don’t mix it with ethical tips, gifts, perks, favors, discounts, fees, free things, deals, funding, donations, campaign contributions, sponsorships, stock options, and promotions. Bribery is when the giver explicitly has the goal to influence the receiver. The legal sanctions also depend on the country: tipping is considered bribery in some societies, whereas it is the norm in the United States.
Simply put, it’s sometimes easier to pay someone to look the other way than to follow the rules. It’s a shortcut to avoiding consequences. The briber most often holds power in the transaction. Bribery can even be in the form of commission. That is, ascending to a certain post, making a profit, and paying a principal to the recipient. In 2007, bribery was thought to be worth around one trillion dollars worldwide. That’s a million millions.
This doesn’t only concern evil wrongdoers of politics. Pharmaceutical corporations entice doctors to favor prescribing their drugs over others. Dentists receive samples of home dental care products such as toothpaste. Patients use bribery to get higher-level medical care. It’s even customary in many countries to offer expensive gifts to medical staff for any level of care in the non-private health sector. Managers, employees, and salespeople in businesses offer money or gifts to clients for business. Referees and scoring judges are offered money, gifts, or other compensation to guarantee outcomes in sports competitions.
Real-life instances of bribery in action:
Spiro Agnew: a Republic, American Vice President resigned from office in the aftermath when it was discovered he took bribes as the Governor of Maryland.
Duke Cunningham: a United States Navy veteran and former Republic member of the United States House of Representatives resigned after pleading guilty to accepting at least 2.4 million in bribes.
Ralph Lauren: the clothing retailer was found guilty of making illegal payments and giving gifts to foreign officials in an attempt to circumvent customs inspections and paperwork.
Lee Myung-Bak: the former president of South Korea was found guilty of accepting nearly 6 million dollars in bribes from Samsung in exchange for a presidential pardon for the chairman of Samsung, Lee Kun-hee.
Larry Householder: the former speaker of the Ohio house was on trial for his part in the biggest bribery scandal in Ohio history just two years ago on the 24th of January, 2023. Prosecutors accused him of taking 60 million dollars in bribes to pass a bailout for Firstenergy.
How to use bribery as a mental model: (1) shortcuts where there should be none — recognize situations were individuals or organizations take shortcuts over formal procedures, as this may highlight where something might be bypassing standard rules for undue benefits; (2) evaluate the ethical trade-off — view things from the bribery lens and ask “Are the short-term benefits of a shortcut worth the potential long-term legal and reputational risks?”; (3) prevent the risk — identify systemic vulnerabilities that invite bribery in your organization and aim for utmost transparency and accountability; (4) flush your corrupt drive — use the model to see how bribery distorts fair competition and erodes trust in policy and business.