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ziq wrote

We're already governed by the mob (the 1%) thanks to their monopoly on violence (the cops).

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ratbum wrote

I don't disagree; but I think if you remove these people, others will take their place and they won't necessarily be better.

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ziq wrote

If you remove the 1% they'll be replaced? So how does keeping cops help?

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ratbum wrote

My question is just the reverse of yours. Assuming they'll be replaced, how does removing them help?

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ziq wrote

Without an institutional monopoly on violence (the police), how can the replacements function? What's to stop us from just killing them if there's no police?

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ratbum wrote

There would be a new monopoly on violence (the mafia is best placed to become this) and there will be another oppositional force (you) which will equally be infiltrated by the mafia. I don't believe this kind of violence is something you can just get rid of.

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ziq wrote (edited )

how would they have a monopoly on violence if we can just kill them without getting arrested for it? That's not a monopoly. Even if some organized criminals are able to gain a foothold over a small area, you can just leave. There's no police to arrest you for squatting when you take up residence elsewhere. The reason the mafia has so much power is because they are deeply ingrained in the state's systems. They control politicians and police and have access to firearms that the rest of us are denied access to (by the state). Without those systems, their power is unable to grow. Without a monopoly on violence, they are only as powerful as their armed numbers. If the rest of us outnumber them and are also armed, they don't stand a chance.

Besides, the mafia only exists because they trade in contraband. Drugs or alcohol or firearms, as well as protection rackets. If there's no state to ban things, and no private business to shake down, there's no mafia.

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ratbum wrote

The mafia (or something like it) itself would retaliate against you; probably not with arrest, but elsewhere.

This group will take control of some resource supply that there's a shortage of and they will use this for power. I just believe that the mafia only exists because of the law.

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ziq wrote

Again, how does a police force prevent "mafia" from trying to seize power? How would police do a better job of it than the ordinary members of the affected community?

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ratbum wrote

It has training, resources and professionalism that an ordinary community doesn't. Someone who's been a police officer for 20 years is going to be a lot better at it than some random guy off the street.

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dieselriot wrote

Even if that were true, which I highly doubt, what stops the police from taking the mafia's place after wiping them out?

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dieselriot wrote

I mean, if the population is depending on a police force in the first place, that most likely makes them unfit for combat and easily controlled by that police. This also makes it more likely for the police to have most of the guns, since they needed it to "fight the mafia", right?

I'm just wondering how is this any different from today's police.

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dieselriot wrote

I still think that, all in all, you'd be better off striking a deal with the "mafia" or standing up to them yourself over electing more authority to try and shoot people for you.

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ratbum wrote

Absolutely nothing. I think this kind of thing is just not possible to get rid of.

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dieselriot wrote

Now we're getting somewhere. Although you're certainly right on not being able to get rid of all authority, I'm all in for making our communities as able as possible to fight authority without depending on anyone else but themselves. I can't see any other way that doesn't just create more authority than it brings down.

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ratbum wrote

I think just the fact that you can be an expert at something makes that unviable as a general strategy. On average, you're always going to lose to a professional army, criminal organization or whatever. You'll always lose to gang violence - and you just can't get rid of it, whether it's criminals or the state.

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