[ExI] The Circle of Coercion

[Damien Sullivan]

On Wed, May 06, 2009 at 11:19:10AM -0700, Dan wrote:

> *  It should also be noted that organized crime (aside from government
> itself) thrives under government.  Were it not for outlawing various
> so called vices in the US (e.g., illegal drugs, prositution, and
> gambling), I think most organized crime would disappear.  Yeah,
> there'd still be some of it around, but it'd be a pale shadow of its
> former self.  I don't expect that minimizing or abolishing the state
> will make the world perfect, just much better under most
> circumstances.

Smuggling banned services (also desperate high-interest loans) is one
avenue of organized crime, yes.  But other big ones are construction
contracts (I'm not sure why) and simple shakedowns: "give us money or we
burn your business down".  If there were no government, there'd be
little check on that last -- one's own force, or that of private
protection agencies, whose difference from organized crime gangs is
undetectable to a lot of people.

-xx- Damien X-)