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Old 06-30-2011, 03:40 PM   #1
vicky_molokh
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Default 'Mythic' Mafia and their Code of Honor

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!
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Last edited by vicky_molokh; 04-17-2012 at 03:32 AM.
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Old 06-30-2011, 03:59 PM   #2
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Default Re: 'Mythic' Mafia and their Code of Honor

Quote:
Originally Posted by vicky_molokh View Post
[*]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.
Loose Cannons sounds pretty good to me, but a couple of other ideas would be Rogue Providers or Immodest Providers.
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Old 06-30-2011, 05:48 PM   #3
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Default Re: 'Mythic' Mafia and their Code of Honor

Stand by your clan.

Police your own neighborhood; a Don may profit from crime, that doesn't mean he wants it near his house.

Concentrate on illegal gambling, protection, and moonshining. "Hard" drugs and especially human trafficking are what Those Other Clans do.

Never let an insult go unavenged.

Don't hurt civilians. This includes dependents of the Made Men, Respectable Folk From the Suburbs(except for government witnesses, etc), and such people as Hookers With A Heart Of Gold. Made Men from a rival clan are fair game if there is a feud on. Informants are definitely fair game.*

Pay nominal respect the Catholic hierarchy. Despite that pesky "thou shalt not steal" thing.



*By the way, that code actually was obeyed in one story I heard. One missionary spoke at our church and told how his ministry was simply to give blankets to homeless people who were cold. Once while he was busy doing this he heard a gunshot. Later an Enforcer came by, told him that he had fired the shot and missed. He also told him that he had mistaken the missionary for a member of a rival gang and to wear a cowboy hat when he went downtown in the night. After that word was apparently spread on the street about who he was and he was unmolested.
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Old 06-30-2011, 05:57 PM   #4
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Default Re: 'Mythic' Mafia and their Code of Honor

As a side note the original Mafia was, according to legend, a secret society for protecting the serfs from the landowners and for protecting Sicily against foreigners. Cynics have noted that it was just as likely to have been for protecting owners from serfs.

The mafia tradition goes back to the middle ages. Steven Runciman implied that they were involved in the Sicilian Vespers. Which proves that you never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line.
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Old 06-30-2011, 07:39 PM   #5
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Default Re: 'Mythic' Mafia and their Code of Honor

You also might want to take a look at the Japanese Yakuza, who, in many villages in feudal Japan, WERE the 'local authorities', as far as the local nobility was concerned.
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Old 07-01-2011, 01:29 AM   #6
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Default Re: 'Mythic' Mafia and their Code of Honor

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Originally Posted by vicky_molokh View Post
How does it look? Anything I'm missing? How would you price the CoH?
-5. It boils down to:

- don't cooperate with the authorities,
- respect the other mafiosi and solve any conflicts with them according to the rules,
- minimize damage to bystanders,
- set aside a social security fund.

Most of this is quite self-serving, can't be worth more than -5.
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Old 07-01-2011, 02:40 AM   #7
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Default Re: 'Mythic' Mafia and their Code of Honor

I feel like I must have misunderstood something there. You say that you are looking for a plausible premise for a kind of extra legal society that handles it's own business. That sounds plausible enough for me so as to need no further justification to exist.

I think this would be easier to accept if you thought of it from the point of view of people who experience having their concerns ignored by their government. That's pretty common. It's also pretty common to have people feel that their interests and those of their government are at odds. I'm a foreigner where I live, this is how I feel. It's how countless immigrants in America felt and continue to feel.

Don't look of it as a question of finding an excuse to have strong organized crime. Instead look at the society and figure out which parts of it might wish for more autonomy from their government. Don't think of it as everyone a part of the same state, with criminals on the side. Think of it as several different competing interests in a society, one of which is represented in the government, and some of whom claim their own authority. Then the only question really is about which interest has the biggest discrepancy between real power and socially and legally accepted power.

I don't know if that's what you were looking for at all.
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Old 07-01-2011, 04:33 AM   #8
vicky_molokh
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Default Re: 'Mythic' Mafia and their Code of Honor

Quote:
Originally Posted by hari View Post
I feel like I must have misunderstood something there. You say that you are looking for a plausible premise for a kind of extra legal society that handles it's own business. That sounds plausible enough for me so as to need no further justification to exist.

I think this would be easier to accept if you thought of it from the point of view of people who experience having their concerns ignored by their government. That's pretty common. It's also pretty common to have people feel that their interests and those of their government are at odds. I'm a foreigner where I live, this is how I feel. It's how countless immigrants in America felt and continue to feel.

Don't look of it as a question of finding an excuse to have strong organized crime. Instead look at the society and figure out which parts of it might wish for more autonomy from their government. Don't think of it as everyone a part of the same state, with criminals on the side. Think of it as several different competing interests in a society, one of which is represented in the government, and some of whom claim their own authority. Then the only question really is about which interest has the biggest discrepancy between real power and socially and legally accepted power.

I don't know if that's what you were looking for at all.
Are you saying that I need go no further in search of justification? Just to make sure we understand each other, I'm also aiming for a culture where high-class organized crime is actually much nicer (to quiet/clueless bystanders, not to whistlers and 'active' cops) than random street thugs and gangs.
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Old 07-01-2011, 08:47 AM   #9
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Default Re: 'Mythic' Mafia and their Code of Honor

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Originally Posted by vicky_molokh View Post
Are you saying that I need go no further in search of justification? Just to make sure we understand each other, I'm also aiming for a culture where high-class organized crime is actually much nicer (to quiet/clueless bystanders, not to whistlers and 'active' cops) than random street thugs and gangs.
That's almost always true until you default on a debt.
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Old 07-01-2011, 09:01 AM   #10
vicky_molokh
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Default Re: 'Mythic' Mafia and their Code of Honor

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That's almost always true until you default on a debt.
Well, yeah. Not paying up on a loan is always dangerous in such culture. But the idea is to make it dishonourable to turn a loan into extortion (i.e. Modest Providers must warn the client about the sanctions, including higher interest rate in case of failure to pay on time, in advance).
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