For starters, all territory is split up among the different crews who run them. That they do this democratically and unanimously without anyone muscling in on surrounding territory is something I've never quite figured out; but it's been working for forty years.

That limitation on potential territory makes you maximize your resources in the geographic areas you control. You get to the point where you know the best neighborhoods for your guys to work based on time-of-day, holidays, local sports schedules, which neighborhoods are composed of people who primarily have others over for the holidays, vs. which neighborhoods primarily go somewhere else to celebrate, etc.

So there is a pretty small limit to how large an operation like that gets, but he's able to pay for his house, send his kids all to private school, and ensure they all can go to any college they want.

It's a decent "lifestyle business", minus the fact that it's a terrible thing to do to people, and unbelievably dangerous.

That's probably not that much due to negotiation, but because smarter team tips off police about criminal activity of competing team, and competing team ends up in jail.

I would guess that more aggressive team is more likely to end up in jail, which causes natural evolution toward less greedy teams.

Still, stealing is a stupid choice for people capable of running efficient organization.

The real problem is the ridiculously lax penalties for car theft in many jurisdictions. In the Seattle, WA area, you basically don't even see the inside of a cell until your third or fourth conviction. (One news article I found at http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=200... contains a quote to the effect that a thief would have to be caught stealing up to seven cars before being punished with prison time.)

Given the lack of interest in auto theft on the part of the legislature, it's not surprising that such crimes don't arouse much interest on the part of law enforcement. As a result there are plenty of large metro areas where an organized auto theft ring could be quite profitable.

In my opinion prostitution and theft fall in the gray area.

Risk-Reward balance in theft is probably the same as in every other risky business. The difference is barrier to entry is so low. That makes all the difference.

Alright, I'll just say this, because I don't want to look like a guy who takes moral high-ground on issues. I got my bike stolen, few years before, I was broke at that time, in a job that doesn't pay at all. I was not crazy about the thief at all. My insurance company paid me after a year, which I used to buy my first web server, which led to me starting my web design business.

I try not to put material possessions above human beings, I lost my bike. But, I don't want to put the thief in jail, and steal years of his lifetime.

   > In my opinion prostitution and theft fall in the gray area.

One is the forced appropriation of another's labor, the other isn't.

Are you also ok with bank heists, dacoity on trains, white-collar crime/corruption (all are theft)? I'm really interested in your reasoning.

One thing that theft and prostitution have in common are, they both have near zero barrier to entry. I sometimes argue with friends, that starting a internet company is the only near zero barrier to entry market. But, me and my friends take for granted, computers and internet connections paid by month and the knowledge that comes with it. For folks with no real skills that may land them on a job. Its natural to look for ways, to get some money, without putting in a lot of money.

I say material theft is in the gray area, because of all the white-collar crimes that are happening all the time, and people doing it are getting away with it. There are interesting studies about, how all bank robberies and auto-thefts constitute to a tiny portion of theft when compared to people stealing office supplies.

I don't support bank heists, dacoity on trains or white-collar crime/corruption.

All I'm saying is all crimes happen because, people who are doing it doesn't have enough social equity to be a good member of the society. Old people here in India used to say, English medicines treat symptoms not the disease. Punishing theft is somewhat like that, unless we uplift the communities that involve in crime, we can never stop crimes.

I guess 2x loss monetary fine could be a good replacement to jail time for first time thieves.