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This is describing a different culture, so your expectations are being confounded. In places bribery is truly pervasive, paying bribes is a habit. You see your parents do it, you see how everyone around you accepts it. Indian (very broadly — this is a stereotype) culture can be less individualistic than the USA, and this makes it even harder to say no to things like this. It’s like tipping, in the USA — so pervasive that it’s invisible. And these days with digital point-of-sale systems, you have to take affirmative action _not_ to tip, and people in line around you can see, so the social pressure is enormous. So the note is proof that the person not paying the bribe is not alone, that they are part of a movement, that their actions are acceptable to at least some portion of their society. This makes is feel safer, and puts the onus on the briber to either escalate or to back down. It also relies on the sense of shame of the briber. Since bribes are commonplace, some civil servants depend on them for their livelihood, or at least their lifestyle. Confronted with the evidence of a social movement saying that their actions are not ok, they’re more likely to feel some shame, versus just feeling anger at a random citizen confronting them. |
You meant the sense of shame of the person being bribed? I ask to avoid a misunderstanding.