Gangsterism; a legitimate form
                                              of government.
   
                      "...Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." -- Chairman Mao

         What to me is always of interest is fellow anarchists disputing the "legitimacy" of any and all forms of government. Stumbling across the above quote years before I learned of Anarchism, Mao's words rang true then as now for Democracy and Dictatorship.

         Indeed the first objection to anarchism is the idea of renegades going against the peace and order of any community. So if one would rape and plunder your home you would be right to utilize deadly force in defense, but is that not what we pay the cops with guns for?

        So the idea of force, as practically and metaphoric the bullet is the enforcer, begs the question that might is right. Which opens the door for the "legitimacy" of Gangsterism as a form of government.

         Two terms recognized in Sociology; Formal Social Control and Informal Social Control. Briefly, Formal Social Control is codified law and protocol. Informal Social Control are cultural norms and taboos, etiquette, peer pressure etc. Noted that to sociologists Informal Social Control carries the most societal weight. No one wants criminal chaos, but no one likes a snitch, not even the police, who will gladly toss in the dustbin even the most blameless witnesses and informants (although to point up most witnesses and informants. are far from blameless, yet often they were caught up in something beyond their scope).

        I propose a third social control; Uniformal Social Control to which both Formal and Informal Social Control are encompassed by. And the key element is Gangsterism itself.

        Gangs are noted primarily, although there are exceptions, to have two things at stake; revenue and territory. A territory though not as well defined as a county line or national border, is still enforced by the bullet of the gun. As the organizations of the police enforce themselves upon with the barrel of the gun. And they collect revenue in the form of taxation to provide this "protection" and service to the public whether the public, under penalty of law, or force, wants or needs it or not.

          Game recognizes game. And one could argue the difference between law enforcement and Gangsterism is which side the money is on. And in my experience both cop and criminal operate to some degree in a gray area allowed by Uniformal Social Control. Indeed I have seen, the history of somewhat expounded on in the blog below, a defining line which no faction or agency would cross or even question its sanctions to begin with, even when its sanction would allow the acts of violence and brutality. This I have been witness to.  ---- Copyright 2016 Diogenes Ltd.