Mafia rules prohibit predation on members and require carefully mediated introductions
Evidence
These rules are not to touch the women of other men of honor; not to steal from other men of honor or, in general, from anyone; not to exploit prostitution; not to kill other men of honor unless strictly necessary; to avoid passing information to the police; not to quarrel with other men of honor; to maintain proper behavior; to keep silent about the Cosa Nostra around outsiders; to avoid in all circumstances introducing oneself to other men of honor (the introduction requires the presence of a third man of honor who knows both parties and who confirms membership in the Cosa Nostra by saying, “This is our friend” or “This is the same thing”). — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 731
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- XREF: Directly parallels Gambetta’s own market model: the rules restrict violence/stealing among members and gate introductions through a trusted third party — textbook private-protection market protocols, close to Milgrom-North-Weingast’s law merchants or medieval private judges.
- ADDENDUM: Supports the private-judges/arbitration frame: the introduction rule ‘This is our friend / the same thing’ mirrors the merchant identity tokens in the Milgrom-North-Weingast model, a concrete mechanism for third-party enforcement.
Related
- Mafia membership rules forbid harming members and outsiders while mandating secrecy (similarity 0.91)
- Mafia initiation rules are flexible enough to accommodate emergencies (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Mafia membership rules forbid harming members and outsiders while mandating secrecy
#corroborates(0.90) — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 381