The yakuza are on the verge of extinction, but were they a “necessary evil”? “The reality is that cornering organized crime only increases the burden on ordinary citizens”
The yakuza are on the verge of extinction, but were they a “necessary evil”? “The reality is that cornering organized crime only increases the burden on ordinary citizens”
They were a necessary evil in the days when law enforcement was sparse and reactive, and criminals operated locally in obvious cells. Now that policing is more about surveillance and prevention rather than raw power, and crime is more decentralized and global there’s really no way the yakuza can help in keeping order like they used to
AnglerJared on
I just get the vague sense that this kind of nostalgic longing for the *yakuza* is just another veiled anti-foreigner/anti-globalization thing. “We miss the good ol’ days when the criminals played by certain rules and told us where they were.” sounds to me a lot like “Sure, the *yakuza* are scary and all, but at least they are being Japanese about it.”
I think the reality is that the extinction of the *yakuza* can only be seen as a good thing and that the romanticization of organized crime is one of those things that countries do when they want to absolve themselves of guilt for the horrible things their culture is capable of producing. Or just lamenting the fact that times are changing and the old-fashioned way is being replaced by something unfamiliar, and for certain people change itself is scarier than the violence and crime.
I dunno. Seems like “crime is bad” is one of those things that normal people aren’t really ambivalent about, so it’s weird to see people arguing it might actually be a good thing in a way.
SilverFoxJp on
Criminal syndicate is never necessary.
Yaruo0310 on
If that logic flies, then you could say Fentanyl is a “necessary evil” too lol.
zardoz73 on
If the yakuza were/are necessary to police certain areas of society, that’s a failure of the police.
5 Comments
They were a necessary evil in the days when law enforcement was sparse and reactive, and criminals operated locally in obvious cells. Now that policing is more about surveillance and prevention rather than raw power, and crime is more decentralized and global there’s really no way the yakuza can help in keeping order like they used to
I just get the vague sense that this kind of nostalgic longing for the *yakuza* is just another veiled anti-foreigner/anti-globalization thing. “We miss the good ol’ days when the criminals played by certain rules and told us where they were.” sounds to me a lot like “Sure, the *yakuza* are scary and all, but at least they are being Japanese about it.”
I think the reality is that the extinction of the *yakuza* can only be seen as a good thing and that the romanticization of organized crime is one of those things that countries do when they want to absolve themselves of guilt for the horrible things their culture is capable of producing. Or just lamenting the fact that times are changing and the old-fashioned way is being replaced by something unfamiliar, and for certain people change itself is scarier than the violence and crime.
I dunno. Seems like “crime is bad” is one of those things that normal people aren’t really ambivalent about, so it’s weird to see people arguing it might actually be a good thing in a way.
Criminal syndicate is never necessary.
If that logic flies, then you could say Fentanyl is a “necessary evil” too lol.
If the yakuza were/are necessary to police certain areas of society, that’s a failure of the police.