Working in Afghanistan for the U.S. government in the 1960s, every three or four months we would travel in our car to Pakistan for groceries at our American commissary. On the way, we would cross the Afghan/Pakistan border. Crossing into Pakistan, it was always suggested by a customs official that he would sure like a carton of American cigarettes or something else.
I had previously been alerted by other government employees that if we didn't pay the extortion implied, that our groceries would be impounded at the border.Others, not complying, who had preceded us, had experienced their groceries being impounded.
Fulfilling the implied extortion, which wasn't a great amount, we were never stopped at the border. This was even though it was apparent that our car was heavily loaded. You might say we bribed the custom official in paying his implied extortion request. However, if we hadn't come through, the groceries would have been impounded, requiring a great deal of hassle and paperwork to recover them.
Extortion is always subtle. The party making the request usually makes a needed suggestion. If the suggestion isn't forthcoming, there will be trouble.
I agree bribes are not good, but it depends on how strongly one feels about one's goal. If the greater good can be accomplished by paying the extortion request, sometimes paying the extortion is the better alternative. However, I am sure in a court of law, extortion would be extremely difficult to prove.
I spent 11 years overseas, and the above example cited wasn't the only place it happened.
The payoff extortion requested of the SLOC is evident by their type: scholarships, health care, etc. It's all very subtly done so that it will be hard to prove it was extortion. But, based on my experience, that is what it was.
Odes D. Steele
Salt Lake City