A person who can be approached

TorgoX on 2003-11-10T08:51:41

Dear Log,

«Where Mr Bush's (or his briefers') ignorance comes in on the Middle East is the blatant lack of knowledge of how a centuries-old system of peoples' representation has worked here. Such a system has worked well and still does work well. It may not have ballot boxes but it does have a person who can be approached to solve problems immediately. That is more than can be said of many western politicians.»

--a United Arab Emirates newspaper editorial, quoted in the Middle East press review

I've heard the same thing said about the Mafia -- that it gave people a guy to go to, to get things done.

People forget that what the Mafia was best at, beyond drugs and prostitution, was self-justification.

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The Mafia... in one paragraph!

rafael on 2003-11-10T09:26:11

The Mafia started its existence in Sicilia as an "alternate" political system, in a country which was devæstated by continuous invasions since about 2000 years. This system became obsolete during the early XIXth century when Italia was finally being constructed as a stable nation. The Mafia then specialized on its various protection and blackmail businesses. Becoming weaker and weaker, it would have naturally disappeared if its grand brother, the Americano-Sicilian Mafia, did not inject new blood and fresh money into the system during the Prohibition. But in spite of this conversion to the crime industry, it always remained attached to the mythology of its origins. A bit like the Christians who burnt different-thinking people, slaughtered Indians, and reduced Africans into slavery, were still attached to the message of peace and of love of Jesus, without realizing that they were perverting it beyond recognition. As they say, a centuries-old system can't be that bad, can it ?

Yep, and we're financing the Mafia

jamiemccarthy on 2003-11-11T18:25:13

Part of how the U.S. is making things happen in Iraq is to go along with, indeed to fund, the Mafia-style method of governance. It's easier than, er, governing...

At least in the short term, an old-fashioned Chicago-style machine, dispensing patronage in return for favors, is a more viable model than one man, one vote...

Lt. Col. Hector Mirabile of the First Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment, the Florida National Guard ... described just what that entails: first handshakes, then tea, then 10 minutes of pleasantries. "And from there you talk business. Contracts are our No. 1 method of control." Mirabile hands out lucrative contracts to rebuild schools or provide other community services (with a tidy profit, up to 20 percent, built in for the sheik). But if violence breaks out—like the mortar attack that occurred just the day before—"I'll be calling on the sheik and asking, 'Why did that happen?' " says Mirabile. "If they can't deliver, we'll reduce their contracts. If he doesn't help, we'll go to him and say, 'Your area is not really safe yet—people can't work here.' And he'll say, 'S—t, this is affecting the bottom line'."

- A War in the Dark (Newsweek)

Libertarians should be ecstatic; they have always said that the Mafia is a great example of an alternative to the evil nasty government.

Re:Yep, and we're financing the Mafia

pudge on 2003-11-11T19:27:48

Libertarians should be ecstatic; they have always said that the Mafia is a great example of an alternative to the evil nasty government.

Well, I do think this is a nice short-term solution ... sorta like U.S. Democracy: it is the worst possible system, except for all the others? :-)