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Comment by TeMPOraL | Hacker News Reader

Well, I don't buy the "principled" part either, not at scale.

But it is organized, and there's not that much fundamental difference between corporations and criminal enterprises, not in the ways they are run. The details boil down to different trade-offs taken wrt. risk vs. reward related to staying on the good side of the law. A lot of the violence (particularly the "principled"-looking one) seems to stem from the fact that a criminal org needs to built its own layer of coordination and enforcement, since by definition it cannot rely on public services of law enforcement and the legal system.

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There is no need to stay "on the good side of the law." They pay off cops. They pay off the judges.

If they can kill with impunity they can certainly do the same with drugs.

Large-scale crack cocaine gangs existed too with substantial levels of organization but they still sell crack.

They're mostly unintelligent thugs motivated by greed. And I think the "Why would they kill their own customers?" implies they think that far ahead. Which is probably true as well for most major corps. They'll take short term profit over quite literally anything.

"Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders' equity, myself included, are in a state of shocked disbelief..."

\- Alan Greenspan

https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2009/03/30/...

> They're mostly unintelligent thugs motivated by greed. And I think the "Why would they kill their own customers?" implies they think that far ahead. Which is probably true as well for most major corps. They'll take short term profit over quite literally anything.

I disagree. "Unintelligent thugs" wouldn't be able to keep organized crime organized. There's necessary overhead that gives rise to administrative class, paperwork, meeting, planning, contracts, etc. that's fundamentally true to humans - it's how villages turned to cities, countries, nation states, international organizations too (in fact a criminal organization is probably more similar to a nation state than a corporation).

Corporations do think far ahead. But they often cannot act on it directly, because of short-term incentives.

> "Unintelligent thugs" wouldn't be able to keep organized crime organized.

You're just speculating. Go listen to the John Gotti tapes. Go read The Five Families, The Sicilian Mafia, or Excellent Cadavers. These aren't deep people. There are no Michael Corleone's. They're all Sonny's.

Most "mafia" is local bookies and theft rings. Organization doesn't require intelligence. Nor does holding people up with a gun or threatening their family if they go to the cops. It's not "smart" to record politicians with their mistresses, it's just the thing you do if you want to commit more crimes.

https://gangstersinc.org/2013/09/27/5-of-the-dumbest-moves-i...

> Corporations do think far ahead. But they often cannot act on it directly, because of short-term incentives.

Except tobacco companies, Wells Fargo, General Motors, Boeing, Purdue Pharma (I don't think getting your customer base addicted to drugs and dying from an overdose is "smart"), etc.

Not understanding how your actions may effect others (or simply not caring that they do) is a sign of a lack intelligence. Not understanding that your safety and wellness is directly tied to the safety and wellness of the people around you can only be excused if you're a toddler.

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