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Criminal organizations like the mafia always thrive when the government is weak - and Italy's various governments of the last decades if not centuries have neve
by mschuster91 3y ago
Criminal organizations like the mafia always thrive when the government is weak - and Italy's various governments of the last decades if not centuries have never been strong, neither in the sense of "the government provides security for its people", in "the government provides stability for its people" nor in "the government can actually govern". It's been clown show after clown show, on a level not much lower than the perpetually-gridlocked US Congress.
And from what we're seeing here in Europe, the US seems to head towards even lower levels of dysfunctionality, with crime running rampant in many cities, homeless encampments drug users and dealers as well as mentally ill people roaming on the street. No wonder people are saying that criminal gangs rule these cities.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- InfiniteRand 3y agoCriminal organizations are a form of government in some ways, protection schemes can be viewed as similar to taxes, and criminal organizations can provide welfare in the form of patronage and corruption. Where the government is lacking, or among populations that the government ignores (such as recent immigrants), a need arises for protection from the unorganized crime, and hence criminals organize and extract money for their efforts. I'm not saying this is good, compared to most (but not all) governments, criminal organizations tend to be more prone to violent outbursts. Accountability is reduced due to the unofficial and secretive nature of these organizations (although there are plenty of governments with low accountability). Secrecy also makes democratic practices almost impossible (although I would be interested in hearing of any exceptions). Nepotism and vulnerability to failures in new generations are common issues. But I suppose what I am saying is similar to the sentiment "Criminal organizations like the mafia always thrive when the government is weak" - to actually reduce the influence of criminal organizations, governments must provide some level of competent protection and services, or otherwise another criminal organization will just step in whenever one is taken down.
- relaxing 3y agoWhat media are you consuming there in Europe, that parrots far right talking points from the US?
- mschuster91 3y agoRight here on Hacker News lol, alone the situation in San Francisco yielded about one or two stories a month [1]. [1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=san%20francisco%20drug&sort=byDate&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
- coldtea 3y ago"As long as you stay in designated, mostly rich and gentrified, areas it's totally safe, orderly, clean, and civilized"