When an anomaly turns normal.
In this text. The term “secret society” means an isolated group of people. Or, a group that has hostile attitudes against outsiders. Those groups don’t want outsiders to see their rituals and everyday life. And, they operate outside the public surveillance. That means some gangs, and especially MC-gangs and organized crime like the Mafia, are a secret society. Monasteries, isolated hospitals, and prisons can also form societies with rules and abilities that are foreign to us.
These people must follow orders and code very carefully, or they face punishment. The code in those societies might be stricter than the army's code. Because people are not allowed to see things that happen behind walls. That rises to conspiracy theories. But sometimes the truth is stranger than the story. The North Korean regime is one of the most powerful societies in the world. That regime has certain rules, and if somebody breaks them. That causes death.
The image above shows the abandoned mental hospital, Kellokoski, Finland. Mental hospitals are one example of the places where things that are abnormal or condemnable turn normal. In the same way, when we think about things like some MC-gangs, there are things that outside society will not accept. For us, society is the place where laws and official authorities determine what is normal behavior.
Or they don’t determine normality. They determine things that are allowed. When people are in a closed society, they are surrounded by people. With a certain ideology. Or a certain way to think about things, like what is right or wrong. Closed societies are always preventive, against outside influence. And things that bring them outside influence are outsiders.
And that is one thing that connects all closed societies. They think that the outsiders are enemies who want to destroy their lifestyle. Closed societies always involve hierarchy. That means higher-ranking members of the society have the right to give orders to members at lower ranks. Those who have a duty to follow those orders. Another thing is that.
The higher-ranking members are always at the middle of the system. And its hierarchy. When a higher-ranking member wants to get out, there is always a circle of henchmen. Many people believe that a secret society is like some kind of army. A secret society, like Hell’s Angels or the Mafia, is an organization. That has certain ceremonies to select its members. Those ceremonies might be very humbling.
Same way. Basic training in the army is not the best time in people’s lives. But the biggest difference between some MC gangs and the army is this. The MC gang memberships are open only for people who please the elder members. All MC-gang members have similar opinions. They have the same attitudes. And that forms a suitable environment for encouragement and radicalism.
Because all of those people are similar, that means they all react to the same provocation in the same way. When somebody starts to encourage others. That can cause a domino effect. And people start to keep racing to tell. How did they all face disrespectful behavior? In those gangs, the women are a status, who are reserved for the higher-ranking gang members.
In the army, there are always people. And there, people must not share their personal merchandise. Those who do not have the same opinions about things. They must follow orders. And there are rules. About the admissions requirements.
But another fact is that tank men and tank leaders have different admission requirements than paratroopers. And they don’t have to respect their superior officers as persons. They must follow orders and respect those superior officers. As governmental representatives. In the same way as the government wants people to respect police and other law enforcement authorities as the government’s representatives, not as private persons.
The army is not a secret society. There are certain rules for making things. There is enough that the person follows the orders. The secret society acts like an army. If we look at it from the outside. But the key element is that those people always have homogeneous backgrounds. There is a possibility that those people who are members of the most violent gangs have a long criminal history that has continued over generations. Their parents could also be gang members, or something in their environment taught them that crimes are an accepted way to earn money.
