Thoughts: Why most "Gangsters" are merely "Pranksters"

I have lived a life filled with CRIME =D and all the types of people and Psychopaths that accompany such a life. Along the wild ride I have come to discover what I believe to be the main FAILURE OF MOST SMALL TIME GANGSTERS, at least as concerns the Bay Area, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Mexican areas...

Like the "Hacking Community," most small time "Gangsters" have a weakness in the form of a flare for the Dramatic and many, if not most, of them secretly wish they were Al Pacino's SCARFACE, The GODFATHER, yadda, yadda - you get the idea.

The problem comes in where SELF-CONTROL and GREED are concerned. You see Children, the way that a CRIMINAL KINGPIN becomes a _Kingpin_ is that he/she concentrates on the _Long Game_, they have endless amounts of PATIENCE, and they always think ahead.

Real "Boss'" know the Business "Secret" that Success Depends Completely on RELATIONSHIPS. In any deal, in any business, whether we are talking about Cocaine, Oil, or Steel; The _True Value_ of any business deal, "Criminal" or not, has nothing at all to do with the Commodity being used to generate income or how much it is worth (e.g. Diamonds vs toothpicks). Why? Because a GOOD RELATIONSHIP with one's business partners assures future profits. Without such TRUST; any business arrangement is short-term at best, Robbery at worst.

OK, enough Business 101, what does this have to do with my Criminal Subjects of Study? The sad fact of the matter is that many, far too many, wannabe-Scarface's are only concerned with Money. They think "Profit" is the end all be all of Business and if they can scam an extra $5 (i.e. STEAL) from a Business Partner - THEY THINK THEY WON. They honestly believe that they "beat" the other person at "Business."

But as any of my fellow current or former junkies know all too well; being ripped off trying to score drugs just means you will never trust said person again and more so you may even RETALIATE, reporting them to the Police, or enacting your own Vendetta. Certainly _NOT_ the type of attention an Up and Coming Godfather needs and not the type of behavior made to "win friends and influence people."

Who is to blame for this sad state of affairs? Are the Poor and Drug-Ridden just naturally stupider than the Ruling 1%? I would say not.

I would say that not only have we all been trained to think in EXACTLY THIS MANNER (Money > Relationships) by our ROLE-MODELS in the Media, but our Corporate Rulers (ENRON, etc) as well have modeled this exact behavior - PRIORITIZING SHAREHOLDER "PROFITS" FAR ABOVE WORKING CONDITIONS/EMPLOYEE-COMPANY RELATIONSHIPS.

As Dr. Bill Burroughs taught me, this is a clear cut situation of QUANTITY vs. QUALITY - the main enslaving tool of this place.