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"Boss politics" are a feature of corrupt societies. When a society is dominated by self-dealing, corrupt institutions, strongman leaders can seize control by appealing to the public's fury and desperation. Then, the boss can selectively punish corrupt entities that oppose him, and since *everyone* is corrupt, these will be valid prosecutions.
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/24/enforcement-priorities/#enemies-lists
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@pluralistic
need a guy like Eliot Ness
Good word choice
Boss: ORIGIN early 19th century (originally US): from Dutch baas ‘master’.
As Black people were required to call white masters in South Africa.
baas /bɑːs /
noun South African English often offensive a supervisor or employer, especially a white man in charge of Black or Coloured people: ▸[as title] Baas O'Brien.
(Oxford Dictionary of English)
@pluralistic "Authoritarian societies are inherently corrupt, and corrupt societies are inherently unstable. Rule of thieves brings collapse, eventually, because they can't stop stealing." William Gibson, '"Agency"
@grheavyroller @pluralistic
I can't place who first said that.
Gibson's police inspector with powers to delete individual Klept who would destabilise the whole was the solution that remained in his dystopia.
Sir Terry Pratchett introduced the Guild of Assassins of Ankh Morpork, who knew "the value of human life, to the penny, in many cases".
@midgephoto @grheavyroller @pluralistic Was the Guild of Assassins also a big employer of actuaries? 
@dneary @grheavyroller @pluralistic Possibly vice versa?
@midgephoto @dneary @grheavyroller @pluralistic Think the quote perfectly encapsulates the launch of #TrumpCoin, #MelaniaCoin, and the sale of half of Trump's other crypto scam #WLFI to Chinese nationals all within 48 hours.
They literally can't help themselves.
@grheavyroller Also happening right now in Serbia. Corrupt kleptocrats reconstructed the overhang at the train station in Novi Sad, which then collapsed, killing 15 people and seriously injuring 2 more. And since the autocrat's government won't prosecute those responsible and won't even provide the whole documentation, today we are on general strike. The fucker IS going down. 12 years of corruption have to end. @pluralistic
@pluralistic I love that your Picks and Shovels book tour is planned as conversations with eminent and personable writers. That seems pretty great!
@jmeowmeow Thank you!
@pluralistic : Correction to the alt text: that's Theodore Roosevelt, not his distant cousin Franklin, wielding the big stick.
@pluralistic Mention of "boss politics" & selective enforcement makes me think of “Big Tim" Sullivan, whose Sullivan Act made it a felony to carry unlicensed firearms in public in New York. The purpose was to disarm Sullivan's enemies; it wasn’t enforced against his friends.
Like many corrupt politicians, Sullivan also dispensed patronage. He reportedly used to say “I never asked a hungry man what his politics were. It was enough for me to know he was hungry.” That's not a Trump-like sentiment.
@pluralistic The enemy of your enemy is still your enemy.