>we don't have violent criminal gangs, almost at all.
On the contrary, we have plenty of violent crime clans (mostly gypsy), they just don't use firearms but have no issue threatening you and your family or beating you into submission with melee weapons or bare hands/feet if you stand in the way of their (mostly) illegal activities while the local police, even when they're not on their payroll, are toothless thanks to the poorly defined laws and they can't, or simply can't be bothered to take much action against them unless they commit some extremely violent acts that get lots of media coverage for which higher levels of government are called for accountability.
It's a lot easier to not shoot someone or get into violent crime in general when you have the option of just taking government assistance and trying to better yourself.
In the US, because of obscene paperwork and often actively hostile to poverty policies, it might be easier to just join a gang to survive.
Which is nice because then you get a super easy way to arrest them. It's much easier to arrest a gang member for having a weapon than catching them on the act. It is very common in Europe.
I think that depends on their strength vis a vis the state. The less powerful the state they operate in, the more brutal they can be. If you compare gangs in lawless lands vs gangs operating in lands with stronger gov, the ones operating in weaker states tend to be more violent because there are fewer resources to supress them.
Where can you expect gangs more violent, Japan or Philipinnes? Brazil or Chile?
I would expect gangs to be more violent in the places where they are punished the same for nonviolent and violent crimes. If I'm in a gang and will go to jail for 40 years if I get caught distributing cocaine, I might as well murder if I think it will improve my position.
The Yakuza are less violent because they are tolerated to a certain extent. They have an incentive not to anger the public because it means the cops will have to do something. It's bad for business and anyway who wants to go to jail?
The Mexican cartels aren't tolerated at all, in the US or in Mexico. When they get caught sentences are pretty much already maxed out, so they have nothing to lose by being as brutal as possible.
If only they were socialist. They’re arguably a lot less socialist than many actual gangs, as far as providing material benefits of their criminal activity to the people who “host” them. Not to glamorize gangs, but some have historically taken care to maintain some degree of legitimacy and favor among “their” people, including through provision of services and money or goods. While also, sure, shaking down some of those same people.
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