I paid the kids next door $100 to keep an eye on things while I was away, innocently at first but kind of hoping they didn’t take too close a look and decide the things were worth more to them than the $100 was. I imagined mob pay offs worked the same way – pay a known amount to prevent an unknown amount from disappearing on it’s own. Again and again. Next time I went away the kids were expecting me to come nocking. The time after that they were already waiting for me. And before long they were offering to keep an eye on things even when I was around, just in case. And for a fee. I created my own extortionists. The same could be said pretty much every other part of my life as well.