4 ms·
> though the counterargument is that organized crime always preys on its own community as much as it does on 'outer society'. Not much of a counterargument, si
by kbenson 4y ago
> though the counterargument is that organized crime always preys on its own community as much as it does on 'outer society'.
Not much of a counterargument, since from a clinical perspective government preys on its citizens as well, through taxation.
For any that take issue with the idea that the government preys on its citizens, it's important to consider it wholistically, as relative to all forms of government and not just an idealized democracy, as we often tend to assume we live in. Is the mafia better or worse than various forms of dictatorships we've seen?
It's all relative, and some people will view some instances of government as net beneficial and other forms not. The only difference here is that the mafio is setting up a second government on top of an existing one, so they have less benefits to provide and are more draining. Even so I find the parallels to government very strong.
- WalterBright 4y agoOne difference is the mafia is not a democracy, another is the mafia is rule by man not rule by law.
- christophilus 4y agoMy reading of the comment you are replying to wasn’t comparing the mafia to democracy, but to government broadly. It’s a fair comparison. Specifically to dictatorships and various negative forms of government. The mafia looks much like a certain slice of government that we’ve seen throughout history many of which were rule by man, not by law.
- kbenson 4y agoYes, my comparison was to government as a concept, and the various forms of it we've seen, not specifically to our government or any modern one in existence in particular. And like most governments, whether those people it considers under it's authority agree with that assessment or not is largely irrelevant, as the "law" they rule under is determined by the ruling group alone.
- weard_beard 4y agoThe author makes this point explicitly: “The problem isn’t merely that Michael lacks his father’s warmth, though having it would have helped. It is that Michael wasn’t the founder. As Machiavelli explains, while principality is necessary to found states, republican institutions best preserve them. The perpetuation of states is the hardest challenge in politics—more difficult even than founding.” One main, if not THE main point of the article is that the film adaptation of The Godfather injected 70’s Watergate cynicism making just such a comparison to US corruption which would have ruined other films but the comparison is made in the guise of sleazy self deception.
- kbenson 4y agoYes, that's why I was specifically comparing it to all forms of government and not just democracy. I was trying to head off this misinterpretation of my point before it happened. :/
- elgenie 4y agoThere are some individual governments that run like the mafia (Putin's Russia comes to mind), but the analogy doesn't really hold in the typical case.