Eventually this scaling of order, trust, and rules makes a prison gang look a lot more like a corporation. Gang leaders (“shot callers”) often send recently incarcerated members of their gang new-arrival questionnaires. It’s good to know what fresh employees have to offer. As crazy as it may sound, all this works. Corrupt countries with Mafia-style groups are more economically successful than countries with decentralized crime, showing higher rates of growth. They put the “organized” in organized crime. And while nefarious groups certainly have negative effects on society, the order they
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