The Theory of the corporation

[V. Alex Brennen]

On Fri, 13 Apr 2001, Ray Dillinger wrote:

> On Fri, 13 Apr 2001, James A. Donald wrote:
>
> >It is totally unfair to compare mafia type organizations to the government.
>
> Governments are just what happens when a mafia gains monopoly
> status in a given territory.

There's a definition of government that one of my friends
routinely quotes to me.  I don't recall the original source,
but the quote goes something like this:

"A government is a group which holds a monopoly on violence,
particularly violence which results in fatality, over a
given geographic area."

It's terribly simplistic, but these days, accurate and
appropriate none the less.


		- VAB