I think it goes beyond violation of norms. It has to do with the sum over the entire interaction between the two parties, as opposed to a single tree-branch of that interaction. In one case, you are in a bad situation, and then someone comes along, and offers to relieve it for a price. In the other case, you are in an okay situation and then someone comes along and puts you into a bad situation, then offers to relieve it.
This can also be expressed in terms of your regret of the other party’s presence in your life. Would you regret having ever met the trader who sells you something you greatly need? No. You’re better off for that person having been around. Would you regret having ever met the extortionist who puts you into a bad situation and then sells you relief? Yes. You’d be better off if they had never been there.
It matters that the same person designed the situation, causing the disutility in order to be able to offer to relieve it. Why? Because an extortionist has to optimize for creating disutility. They have to create problems that otherwise wouldn’t be there. They have to make the world worse; otherwise they wouldn’t be able to offer their own restraint as a “service”.
Tolerance of extortion allows the survival of agents who go around dumping negative utility on people.
Contrast the insurer with the protection racket. The insurer doesn’t create the threat of fire. They may warn you about it, vividly describe to you how much better off you’d be with insurance if your house burns down. But the protection racket has to actually set some people’s stuff on fire, or at least develop the credible ability to do so, in order to be effective at extracting protection money.
Confused as well by insurers who are protection rackets. The Mafia did provide some pluses as well as costs, and governments with emergency services will lock you up if you fail to pay the taxes that support them.
Tolerance of extortion allows the survival of agents who go around dumping negative utility on people.
This is backwards. Tolerance of dumping negative utility allows extortion. The problem is the ability/willingness to cause harm, not the monetization.
I think it goes beyond violation of norms. It has to do with the sum over the entire interaction between the two parties, as opposed to a single tree-branch of that interaction. In one case, you are in a bad situation, and then someone comes along, and offers to relieve it for a price. In the other case, you are in an okay situation and then someone comes along and puts you into a bad situation, then offers to relieve it.
This can also be expressed in terms of your regret of the other party’s presence in your life. Would you regret having ever met the trader who sells you something you greatly need? No. You’re better off for that person having been around. Would you regret having ever met the extortionist who puts you into a bad situation and then sells you relief? Yes. You’d be better off if they had never been there.
It matters that the same person designed the situation, causing the disutility in order to be able to offer to relieve it. Why? Because an extortionist has to optimize for creating disutility. They have to create problems that otherwise wouldn’t be there. They have to make the world worse; otherwise they wouldn’t be able to offer their own restraint as a “service”.
Tolerance of extortion allows the survival of agents who go around dumping negative utility on people.
Contrast the insurer with the protection racket. The insurer doesn’t create the threat of fire. They may warn you about it, vividly describe to you how much better off you’d be with insurance if your house burns down. But the protection racket has to actually set some people’s stuff on fire, or at least develop the credible ability to do so, in order to be effective at extracting protection money.
Confused as well by insurers who are protection rackets. The Mafia did provide some pluses as well as costs, and governments with emergency services will lock you up if you fail to pay the taxes that support them.
This is backwards. Tolerance of dumping negative utility allows extortion. The problem is the ability/willingness to cause harm, not the monetization.