Ah yes, la mordida (the bite) in Mexico. It's also a way of life in India, from what I hear. I worked with a guy from India who said his father had to "bribe seven people" to get a telephone line installed. Now THAT's a culture of bribery. People from India are generally very impressed with the US when they visit here.
It's also a way of life in China and any other country that our companies send their jobs off to. Someone in that foreign country has to be the master for our stockholders.