'Mythic' Mafia and their Code of Honor

[vicky_molokh]

Greetings, all!

I decided that in the setting I'm redesigning, I want one locale to be heavily affected by organized crime. And I don't mean the 'modern' young men with no principles and lots of greed. I mean the 'mythic' mafia, which was supposedly all about giving people what the government would give or even allow them (usually with a catch, but not not a terrible one for those who are careful). I'm trying to come up with a premise under which such a concept seems plausible.

The premise (as far as I see it) behind such a situation is a hypocritical society, with roughly the following setup:

• Regular folks want to vote for 'honest rulers', which usually translates to actually voting for people with a religious or philosophical bent towards 'fighting the vice'.
• A term of most high-ranking positions is 10 or 12 years, which means the newly elected ruler/congressman has quite some time to implement what he thinks is best before being 'outvoted' by another one (who likely isn't very different).
• The lawmakers thus make/maintain laws that prohibit things that we find at least partially acceptable - alcohol, prostitution, gambling, and even loud music past sunset and some of the less-approved sex acts in general. (Yes, traditional religious views are one of the reasons behind such laws.)
• Despite the above, the overall state is corrupt and inefficient; it cannot enforce all of the laws that are passed, at least not at a meaningful level of efficiency. This interacts with the fact that . . .
• While they wouldn't want to admit it to the whole world, a large portion of the population (let's call it a significant minority, say up to 40%) still wants to partake in at least some of the things that are frowned upon by tradition and outlawed by the authorities. Not all of them at once - some like to make bets, others have a taste for wine etc. Either way, they are the potential clientèle . . .
• . . . For there are always people seeking money who do not regard written law highly. In such a situation, certain services warrant a significant markup for the risk and (initial) rarity. Thus, the colloquial name for such 'decent' organized crime became 'Modest Providers' (modest meaning shady, or covert, in this context).
• Dead clients don't bring money, random violence is bad for business, and being hated is always worse that being liked or merely feared. Thus, despite not caring much about written law (aside from situations where getting caught was very likely), the mafiosi became inclined to follow their own set of rules - rules that are quite beneficial to potential or actual clients (as long as they do no harm to the Providers). Of course, real threats are steal dealt with.
• Corruption of law enforcement powers (combined with unimpressive salaries) generally means that with a proper balance between income kept and income spent on bribes, shady businesses can thrive.

The Providers generally see the population as split into the following groups (some of which might be overlapping):

• Clueless Bystanders - people who lead honest lives and know nuthin'.
• Quiet Bystanders - people who do not partake in shady activities, but personally have seen or otherwise directly know some of it (e.g. friend of a gambler who visited a cardhouse, but never plays).
• Modest Clients - people who use any of the shady services/goods, and keep quiet.
• Whistlers - witnesses and others 'in the know' who cooperate or intend (in the mafiosi's opinion) with the authorities; sometimes informally covers vigilantes too.
• Authorities - what it says on the tin.
• Modest Associates - generic term for people who are only 'one foot' into shady business; one can think of it as probation.
• Modest Providers - full-time mafiosi.
• Loose Cannons (I would prefer a better term) - criminals who do not respect the Modest Providers' Code of Honour; typically these are about in the same level of trouble as Whistlers.

Here's a rough list of what I think their CoH would include:

• Never handle conflicts through the Authorities, never Whistle.
• Never use violence or coercion against Clueless Bystanders (it tends to turn them into Whistlers!); fraud is an edge case. Threats against Quiet Bystanders are an edge case.
• Should a conflict with another Provider occurs, wait for a higher-ranking Provider's permission before engaging in any acts of revenge.
• A verbal agreement with a handshake and another Provider of an equal rank as a witness is as good as a written contract.
• When introducing oneself to another Provider as a business partner, always use a mutual acquaintance's reference.
• Lying to, or stealing from any other Provider is strictly forbidden. Lying to Associates is an edge case.
• Money from business must be set aside - no less than 10% each for: tribute to the higher-ranked Provider, a reserve for bribes, and the needs of those who got caught or wounded during a cop raid.

How does it look? Anything I'm missing? How would you price the CoH?

Thanks in advance!