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Upstart Gangs Filling the Yakuza Power Vacuum
- txttran 9y agoI'm always interested in reading about the inner workings of gangs. It seems like these biker gangs are not particularly sophisticated nor well organized, though. The main one in the story immediately lost cohesion when their leader fled the country and were absorbed by the Yakuza. In many ways, they seem less robust and effective than biker/street gangs in America.
- jandrese 9y agoThere is a tension on how organized you make your gang. Too organized and the power concentrates at one person who is easy to arrest or assassinate and then there is a power vacuum that pulls the organization apart. Basically you trade off being more effective for being more robust. When any member can be arrested at any time it makes sense to retain only loose organization even though you won't get as much done.
- pwaai 9y agoI wonder if having all of your members be independently mobile on their motorcycles allowed them to thrive in North America. It's so much easier to commit crime when you just hop on and off a bike, access paths unavailable to cars Recently I've been reading about Vancouver's gang wars and it strikes me just how persistent Hells Angels seem to be compared to other groups that have all but disappeared off the radar or become friendly to Hells Angels. Perhaps decentralization is the new organized crime paradigm...we won't be seeing supercartels like Cali anymore
- germinalphrase 9y ago"Leaderless Resistance" has a long history within groups that seek to remain covert (for both legal or illegal reasons). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaderless_resistance https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaderless_resistance
- kridsdale 9y agoMotorcycles are hyper powered horses. The war tactics of the preindustrialized world still apply.
- azernik 9y agoAmerican biker gangs in particular benefit from deep cultural roots. They originated post-WWII as associations of disaffected veterans, and continue to have a well of support in groups that follow that culture without any illegal activity. These Japanese biker gangs seem to have a much lighter base of support. (Interesting side note, gay leatherman culture grew out of specific gay biker gangs, and mainstream biker groups like Hell's Angels have a positive view of leather culture despite their macho image.)
- forapurpose 9y ago> American biker gangs ... originated post-WWII as associations of disaffected veterans Based on what I've read, in any country demobilized soldiers are a challenge; they are trained in violence, and are often traumatized, have trouble fitting in with civilians, and lack valuable civilian skills. In some places they become violent insurgents (a recent example is Iraq), in some the government finds a war for them (I've read that that was a motivation for the Crusades), and in the U.S. post-WWII it appears that some became biker gangs, a sort of vigilante for a peaceful society.
- azernik 9y agoAnd even when they did not become involved in violence, they gave demobilized soldiers a clear hierarchy, with insignia and chains of command.
- kevinstubbs 9y agoThat's really interesting! Do you happen to remember where you read about demobilized soldiers in countries, or about the possible motivation for the crusades?
- forapurpose 9y ago> Do you happen to remember where you read about demobilized soldiers in countries I've read it many times about many countries, current and historical. Find resources serious and detailed enough to deal with that kind of policy issue. There is abundant discussion in the U.S. press (e.g., the NY Times) of the demobilization of the Iraqi army after the Iraq War. > or about the possible motivation for the crusades Sorry, not off the top of my head, but it's a relatively well-known theory and I read it more than once. As I wrote, I've read that theory; I didn't say such things happened. That's because I don't recall whether the source was based on serious research and expertise or was repeating a semi-popular 'wisdom'.
- taurath 9y agoThe difference in wording when describing gang members is interesting to me - "hoodlums" kind of describes a paternalistic disappointment, but in the US the language usually describes them as sub-human.
- setecgastronomy 9y agoPower abhors a vacuum.
- Animats 9y agoFrom the article: Meanwhile, the Kantō Rengō members had started out working as drivers and bodyguards for the heads of major entertainment agencies. By this time, they were starting their own businesses, like loan sharking, adult movie production, and IT. The different members were pushing forward with their own various businesses. I myself had a legitimate web advertising firm that was highly profitable and growing rapidly. There isn't much money in street crime. Unloading stolen goods is dead. Who wants a partly broken used car stereo? Any TV one person can lift is worthless. Used computers are E-waste. The old-line criminal organizations are either being bypassed or are moving into more profitable areas. Initial coin offerings, binary options, FOREX, and payday loans are the new big moneymakers.
- arcanus 9y agoAI, bitcoin, and street gangs with ICOs: we really do live in a cyberpunk future.
- ShabbosGoy 9y agoExcept when you live below the API. Then your life becomes a dystopian nightmare.
- freeflight 9y agoAnd we don't even get the fancy fashion and gadgets, I expected way more mohawks, gas masks, and cyber glasses.
- Animats 9y agoAnd we got hoodies and neckbeards.
- fourthark 9y agoMaybe it did not affect the lead characters as much, but a brutal disparity of wealth was always part of the cyberpunk aesthetic.
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- ghostbrainalpha 9y agoWas there an error in translation here? >These criminals don’t belong to established yakuza groups, but they don’t have legitimate employment either. They make their living from violence or engage in crime on the side, in addition to their main job. It seems to be saying they are part time criminals with real jobs, but it also says "they don't have legitimate employment".
- guicho271828 9y agolegitimate employment == full-time job I guess
- edflsafoiewq 9y agoThe alternation was kind of lost. The sense of the sentence is that hangure refers to people who have neither legitimate employment nor belong to an actual criminal organization but who make a living from violence or illegal activities; or else, it refers to people who may have legitimate employment, but make money in that way on the side.
- jdlyga 9y agoupstart gangs should beware of the systemd gangs.
- cperciva 9y agoI imagine you could get savaged by either of them...
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- capsulehotel 9y agoIt's the same in western Europe. Motorbike gangs like the Hells Angels got outlawed or severely restricted and violent youths on welfare looking to get involved in crime didn't have the money for expensive Harleys either way. They started street gangs involved in drugs and fought with brutal violence for control over the nightlife and prostitution, as they had nothing to lose either way.