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Military contractors don't fight for themselves, they are contracted by a government, don't they? If you think they do, I am very interested in an example (I do

Military contractors don't fight for themselves, they are contracted by a government, don't they? If you think they do, I am very interested in an example (I don't know that sector). Funding a militia is a good one, that's some government-style play. I think the Telecom and Orange one is more of some people within the corporations hand in hand with some people within the government.

TeMPOraL 6y ago
> Military contractors don't fight for themselves, they are contracted by a government, don't they? They are - depending on how you look at it, you can consider them an extension of governments, or as private companies that figured out a way to partake in the "monopoly on violence" and thus get to make money by killing people. Governments have limited ability to micromanage their contractors - in fact, a reason to hire a PMC is to outsource micromanagement. You tell them where to be and what to do, and they manage themselves. Now if you give a company permission to use violence and legal cover, the obvious thing happens - the companies start to do their own things on the side. Documented cases include murder, smuggling of alcohol and weapons, sex trafficking and host of other evil acts[0]. > I think the Telecom and Orange one is more of some people within the corporations hand in hand with some people within the government. That's true, but this is always the case with large corporations. Private markets and governance aren't independent - they're very much intertwined. Power begets money begets power. Trying to talk about government vs. private interests, we have to remember that the boundary between them is very fuzzy - the separation makes sense when economists talk about bakeries and barbers and mom&pop stores. It breaks down as you approach bigger and more wealthy companies[1]. -- [0] - Bunch of examples listed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_military_company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_military_company. [1] - Hell, you could say it breaks down as soon as company's wealth or influence approaches the wealth or influence of the political unit in which it's embedded. It'll take a megacorp to seriously play on the national politics stage, but even a humble factory can have huge impact on county politics if it employs a significant chunk of said county's population.

TeMPOraL 6y ago

> Military contractors don't fight for themselves, they are contracted by a government, don't they? They are - depending on how you look at it, you can consider them an extension of governments, or as private companies that figured out a way to partake in the "monopoly on violence" and thus get to make money by killing people. Governments have limited ability to micromanage their contractors - in fact, a reason to hire a PMC is to outsource micromanagement. You tell them where to be and what to do, and they manage themselves. Now if you give a company permission to use violence and legal cover, the obvious thing happens - the companies start to do their own things on the side. Documented cases include murder, smuggling of alcohol and weapons, sex trafficking and host of other evil acts[0]. > I think the Telecom and Orange one is more of some people within the corporations hand in hand with some people within the government. That's true, but this is always the case with large corporations. Private markets and governance aren't independent - they're very much intertwined. Power begets money begets power. Trying to talk about government vs. private interests, we have to remember that the boundary between them is very fuzzy - the separation makes sense when economists talk about bakeries and barbers and mom&pop stores. It breaks down as you approach bigger and more wealthy companies[1]. -- [0] - Bunch of examples listed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_military_company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_military_company. [1] - Hell, you could say it breaks down as soon as company's wealth or influence approaches the wealth or influence of the political unit in which it's embedded. It'll take a megacorp to seriously play on the national politics stage, but even a humble factory can have huge impact on county politics if it employs a significant chunk of said county's population.