A historical analogy is the decline of gunslinger/cowboy culture out west a bit more than a century ago. Something to consider is 1000 equal competing gangs ea

A historical analogy is the decline of gunslinger/cowboy culture out west a bit more than a century ago. Something to consider is 1000 equal competing gangs each fighting 999 equal competitors means quite an impressive body count, but once MS-13 or "whoever" takes over and there's only one operational gang, the body count will naturally implode. Note that you don't necessarily need only one gang, in fact you can operate quite well with the original 1000, what is necessary is a stable and predictable hierarchy. Without a stable hierarchy every competitor you shoot increases your overall systemic stability and finances. With a stable semi-formal hierarchy every competitor you shoot pisses off someone at a high level who used to have two workers and now has one dead worker and one malfunctioning worker, and thats not likely to turn out very well for the shooter. A cultural drift from equality to hierarchy needs to be considered along with the obvious economy of scale argument.