The Theory of the corporation

[John Sheehy]

On Fri, 13 Apr 2001, V. Alex Brennen wrote:

| 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.

It actually goes a little more like this

	A state is an entity that holds a monopoly on the use of violence
	within a specified territory (i.e. it's borders).

They thus control all resources in the territory through the threat of
violence. Government does not work without the threat of terminal physical
violence.

I think I first read this in a Federation of American Scientists document.

There's one minor difference that can be classified as spin. States
(governments) present themselves up to be legitimate power strutures of the
people, whereas 'mafia' organizations are unconcerned with advocating their
legitimacy.

When one disregards the emotional loading of the terms, one can see there is
no difference between a government charging a person taxes and a 'mafia'
charging a person "protection money." These entities offer physical
protection from other competing entities of the same type.

The reason why governments and 'mafia' are/have been so abusive of
individuals right in their territies is the lack of sufficient competition
brought about by major barriers to entry in this market. 

These barriers have gotten worse throughout history. In the 18th Century one
could challenge a "protection provider" through direct action with muskets
and little else. Today one needs significantly more resources (advanced
weaponry -- RPGs, SAMs, etc) to effectively challenge a 'protection
provider' through direct action.

Ideally, governments need to be decoupled from geographical territories, so
that an individual has a freedom to exercise their right to choose the best
government no matter where she is located.


-John