Mosca, Mafia, & The Moral Buffer: Cybernetic Regulation In Weak States (Gaetano Mosca)

Support my work further by joining my Patreon or by becoming a Youtube Member. https://www.patreon.com/cw/thepast33yrs #mafia, #mosca, #elitetheory, #staffordbeer, #viablesystem, #systemstheory, #economics, #sociology, #crime, #psychology, #books What is Mafia? This was a question posed and answered by Gaetano Mosca—a founding member of the Italian School of Elite Theory—in a series of lectures he delivered in the year 1900. In this video, we will not only perform a deep-dive analysis of this lesser known work of Mosca—which has since been translated into English by Marco Lazzarotti—but we will also seek to update it and modernize it. In particular, we will analyze this phenomenon of the Mafia using three models: Stafford Beer’s cybernetic Viable System Model, Mancur Olson’s Stationary Bandit model of civilizational development, and Bertrand de Jouvenel’s so-called High-Low, Middle control mechanism. SOURCES: Gaetano Mosca, What Is Mafia?, 1900, Translated by Marco Lazzarotti (2014), M&J Publishing House (2019) Gaetano Mosca, The Ruling Class (Elementi di Scienza Politica), 1896 (1939, English Translation), McGraw-Hill. Reprinted by Babel Books Stafford Beer, Brain of the Firm, 1972, 2nd Edition (1980), John Wiley and Sons, Limited. Vilfredo Pareto, Compendium of General Sociology, (1980, English Translation) University of Minnesota Press Robert Michels, Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy, 1911, (1915, English Translation), Free Press Second Paperback Edition (1962) James Burnham, The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom, 1943, Reprinted by Lume Books (2020). Mancur Olson, Power & Prosperity: Outgrowing Communist and Capitalist Dictatorships, 2000, Basic Books (Perseus Books Group) For a good and concise summary of Elite Theory (including Jouvenel's High-Low, Middle Mechanism) see Neema Parvini's "The Populist Delusion:" Neema Parvini, The Populist Delusion, 2022, Imperium Press TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro & 3 Model Overview 07:03 Mosca's Law: The Rulers & The Ruled 9:52 Metalanguage of the Mafia 12:41The Mafia As An Inter-facial Parasitic Layer 14:22 Pareto's Classification of Residues 16:37 Entropic Revenge Spirals 19:46 Pathological Respect Culture 23:33 Environmental Dependency 27:13 Code of Silence Omerta 31:19 Olson's Stationary Bandit 32:14 Spirit of Mafia 35:42 Mosca's Law Once Again 37:33 Jouvenel's High-Low Middle Mechanism 41:39 Cybernetic Steering & The Normal Distribution 43:44 Jouvenel's High-Low Alliance 46:09 Public's Moral Outrage Reservoir 47:37 Neutralizing Public Outrage 50:52 Over Criminality & Suffering 57:26 State's Legitimacy 59:35 Mafia Viable System Model 1:03:37 Risk Management 1:06:14 Mafias As Meritocracies 1:10:43 2 Types of Instrumentality 1:13:33 The Mafia Game: The Setup 1:24:12 The Mafia & The State 1:27:59 Ternary Viable System 1:47:13 Brigandage 1:49:27 Brigandage & The High-Low Middle Mechanism 1:52:16 Off-the-record information 1:55:00 The Remainder Because I Forgot To Keep Writing Timestamps