Re: Difference Between Tip and Bribe

Date: Wed, 03 Aug 2011 06:42:26 -0000
To: AM-GLOBAL
From: Ram Dayal Singh
Subject: Re: Difference Between Tip and Bribe

Baba

== RE: DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TIP AND BRIBE ==

Namaskar,
Your analysis is very good. Thanks for raising this important topic; I have appended the most relevant parts below.

Here I would like to share my own personal story.

All along it has been my regular habit to give "healthy tips" to labourers and related personnel.

But I cannot forget one incident that took place in Ananda Nagar in the early 1990's. Those days the Goenka and Agrawal families used to stay in the new AMIT building during DMS.

Accordingly, Dada Kalyaneshvaranandji used to arrange a special cook to prepare food for AMIT.

For three days, during DMS, the cook was putting forth his entire effort to please the Goenka family. The cook would not listen to or give attention to anyone else, i.e. those not giving large amounts of money for those three days. This created problems for many during the DMS time. And some simple people were wondering why the cook would not even look their way. Then the answer became known to all.

The reason the cook would not help anyone else was that he was receiving Rs 400 as "Tip" from Goenka Dada at the end of DMS. Therefore, the cook was doing nothing else except trying to please Goenka family. 

So, due to a "tip", the cook did not attend to his allotted duty in an impartial manner. Rather he was giving exclusive attention and preference to those giving big tips and he would do nil (nothing) for those giving smaller tips or not giving at all. Because of the big tip, the cook was partial to one rich man's family and he (the cook) totally disregarded others. This striking example clearly shows the negative effect that tips have on society - even our AM society.

At that time I started thinking that a tip is like a bribe to get special favour.

Since reading your letter I have decided to permanently stop this ill-conceived convention of tipping others. It is not at all good, rather harmful. Baba does not like it and it is not good for society.

I hope that every genuine Ananda Margii will follow Baba on this point. We should refrain from giving tips and side by side devote energy and time to fighting for higher wages and better working conditions for those employees working for tips.

Namaskar,
Ram Dayal Singh


On 08/02/2011 03:25 PM, AM-GLOBAL wrote:

Date: Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:43:52 -0800 (PST)
From: Pradiips Deva
Subject: Difference Between Tip and Bribe
To: am-global@earthlink.net

.........

WHAT ABOUT TIPS - THEY ARE OK RIGHT??

Now we come to the next stage: tips or gratuities.

1. What are tips?

A tip is the more moderate amount of money that common people often give to taxi drivers, waiters in the restaurant, delivery men / women, barbers, hotel staff, and others. Tips are usually given to those doing more physically-oriented work, though not always. 

In their defense, those workers who receive tips may think, "I am underpaid so I deserve a little bit extra."

And indeed, out of sympathy for their plight, many do reward such labourers with a tip. Those who give tips often feel that they are expressing their gratitude and those receiving tips feel the extra-money is well-deserved. Both parties feel that tips are distinctly different from bribes. They feel bribes are illegal and under-the-table while tips are an expression of human feeling done in the open.

2. So then what is the stand of Ananda Marga on tips?

We are 100% against tips. In our view, tips are the same thing as a bribe - no difference in quality or effect.

This may be a shock to your ears as many consider tips to be an innocuous expression of generosity and good cheer, but consider the following.

Let me first say this. I have always tipped staff and workers in ways I thought appropriate. I wanted to be generous. But tipping does not solve their problem, rather it worsens the situation of those workers. So this letter is not about being greedy and not tipping others; rather the aim is to uplift all sectors of society.

3. Why are tips harmful?

Baba does not want extra money given to anyone performing a job as this leads to the degeneration of the individual and the disintegration of society. In that sense, a tip and a bribe are essentially the same exact thing. The one receiving the tip becomes personally degenerated because all day long he is thinking about money instead of doing his job; and the problem in collective life is that tips lead to partiality. Those who give big tips receive preferential treatment, while those who do not have money to give a grand tip are forgotten and labeled as "cheap" or "penniless" or "worthless".

That is why the common acronym for tips is: To Insure Prompt Service.

Those who tip big get treated with high respect and their every need and wish is satisfied. Those common people who do not have the funds to tip are overlooked and neglected.

In due course, people will only do their job for those who give big tips. Here again Baba's teaching is that when money is given to a person in consideration of their post, then that is not at all proper; indeed that is a bribe.

Baba says, "If, in consideration of the power of your post, anyone offers you a present, that should count as a bribe." (Caryacarya, Part 2, Society, Point #23d)

Tips then act in the same way as a bribe. Those who are known to give generous tips get treated differently from others. They are given the "royal treatment."

Even then some may protest and say, "I give tips out of the goodness of my heart - not to receive preferential treatment."

The response is: "Would you give that person money if they did not do a particular work for you."

For instance, if you normally give a waiter (food server) a $10 tip when eating in that restaurant, would you still give that waiter $10 if you went to eat in a different restaurant.

Here the point is that one cannot give freely from the heart if something is done exclusively in consideration of another's person's job, or post, or title etc. There is some other motive operating. That is why a tip is not a gift, but rather a bribe. We will talk more about gifts further down in this email.

4. Why tips undermine a worker's dignity and status?

When an employee does not receive a proper salary and has to rely on tips, then his position is insecure. Such a person essentially must beg, plead, and please in order to garner more and more tips. Just imagine if a nurse or teacher worked on tips only. Then they could not pointedly and confidently attend to their work of nursing or teaching. They would be too worried or concerned with pleasing their patients and students - hoping to receive some coins in a jar when the day is over. In that case the status of a nurse or teacher becomes that of a beggar. Their independent, professional status is lost. This is true of any person or profession who relies on tips. That is why it is far, far better for a person to receive a proper paying salary than rely on tips. Then their dignity and social standing are secure.

5. Why your burning house will not be saved?

Just think how terrible it will be if the police or fire department do not respond to your emergency call since they do not consider you to be a big tipper. That is the reality which even exists today in many countries. Or imagine if you went to the doctor and they refused to see because you were not a big tipper. When we think of the matter in this light, does it not create an unsettling feeling in the mind.

Viewing the situation in this manner, it is very evident that tips will bring injustice and stagnancy in the society, just like bribes. Preferential treatment becomes the rule of the day, not true human feeling.

6. Why people give big tips?

Indeed in this money-driven era, people give big tips for multiple reasons. The first being that giving a big tip is a sign that you have money. In the vaeshyan era, being a moneyed man is everything. Giving a big tip means have plenty-o-extra cash. That means you are better than the common man as well as the person whom you are tipping. People want respect, and people know that one distinct way to garner such respect is to tip big. Those who can afford it, do it. And even some poorer people who do not have a lot of money will give a big tip (when they can) just because it satisfies their egoistic desire to rise above and be respected.

Truly speaking, tipping is a very degenerated approach. It degrades both the one doing the tipping and the one receiving the tip. Money is not the value of one's worth.

Baba says, "Your ideal is represented by your conduct. Your learning, your social or economic status have nothing to do with your ideal." (Ananda Vanii #13)

7. Who suffers the most?

The ones who suffer the most are those who cannot afford to give a big tip. So just as with bribes, it is the common person who gets neglected and pushed aside while the "wheelers & dealers" like big business and mafioso types get the best of everything. Thus, where there are tips there is partiality, and where there is partiality it is the "common man" who is left behind. That is what tips do: They alienate and block the regular people from getting what they need. They are the ones who suffer the most.