We live in a society of debt. Each person in the USA owns over $53,000 in federal debt. If we had to pay the government’s debt today, that would drain most of our checking and savings accounts! And this doesn’t even take into consideration the unfunded obligations like Social Security.
Then we add the personal debt, credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages, and we are pretty tapped out. Many people live paycheck to paycheck with little cushion. Many don’t even have a ‘rainy day’ fund.
Most of us don’t have anything over which someone could bribe us. We don’t work at the permit office, or have positions of power that give us some advantage. We don’t have the authority to grant someone permission to do something.
It is the ability to say “Yes” or “No” over a decision that opens the door to bribery. We don’t generally call it a bribe. Instead, we say they now have access to whatever it is they were seeking. We know ‘access’ in the political realm means power. But we don’t call a bribe a bribe. Instead, we wink and shake hands, and the favor gets done.
This kind of power for sale is hated by the LORD. This power of a bribe to corrupt is recognized by the government. Ethics rules limit the dollar value of a gift given to an employee.
The flip side of the bribe is greed. If the person receiving the bribe were not greedy, wanting more money, power, influence, then a bribe would not work. They take the little extra because they can. It is not that the bribe is huge, but that it represents power.
I hope coupons are not bribery! I hope the store really just likes me and wants to help me out. If we purchase something using a coupon that we normally would not have purchased, is it a bribe? Did they exchange money (my discount) for their access to by credit card? Think about it, will you. What power exchanges hands when I get and use a coupon? Are they paying me for something? What do I get in return?
The Arnold Journey 