Bad Bribe, Good Bribe
Yesterday, I violated a traffic rule and was promptly caught by a traffic policeman. What happened next, you may already have guessed. Broadly, this is the sequence of events: He tells me that the fine is Rs.300 and takes out a book to book me. I plead, and he says 200 will do. I finally hand him a 100 rupee note. This, of course, took quite some time, and by the end of it, we had almost become friends. He asked me my salary, and I laughed in response.
His parting remark was that he gets 5000 rupees for his job, while I must be getting 20,000.
Some things come out of the incident:
1. That he is grossly underpaid, especially since he is around 35, and probably supports his wife and kids
2. That I deserved to be fined for the violation
3. If I have to pay the fine in any case, should I be happy to give the money to the govt. or to this policeman?
The answer is easy: the policeman. These are the reasons:
1. First and foremost, I am selfish, and would rather lose 100 than 300 rupees
2. Second, this guy gets some money for his needs. Thus, he too is a winner
3. If I give this money to the govt, I have no way of knowing if it will not end up in some minister’s pocket. Even if it is allotted for development purposes, only about 30 rupees will actually reach its intended destination. The rest will be eroded in the long process.
Now, is bribe such a bad thing?
His parting remark was that he gets 5000 rupees for his job, while I must be getting 20,000.
Some things come out of the incident:
1. That he is grossly underpaid, especially since he is around 35, and probably supports his wife and kids
2. That I deserved to be fined for the violation
3. If I have to pay the fine in any case, should I be happy to give the money to the govt. or to this policeman?
The answer is easy: the policeman. These are the reasons:
1. First and foremost, I am selfish, and would rather lose 100 than 300 rupees
2. Second, this guy gets some money for his needs. Thus, he too is a winner
3. If I give this money to the govt, I have no way of knowing if it will not end up in some minister’s pocket. Even if it is allotted for development purposes, only about 30 rupees will actually reach its intended destination. The rest will be eroded in the long process.
Now, is bribe such a bad thing?
posted by vikram at 10:43 AM
2 Comments:
It depends on who the beneficiary is at the end of the day.
What you might not have thought is , does the policeman spends the money on his kids and wife or does he go off for a booze .... think on those lines and the question u raised will remain unanswered forever!!
cheers
Priyesh
In first place i liked the way of thinking here..
I agree with the first comment too. But however even if it does go to the bozing shop there is some sort of money exchange which leads to the growth in the economy, rather the money going to swiss accounts of the Ministers :D
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