dodge city

Until we understand the nexus of crime-dodginess-creativity-success we will never solve the problem of burgeoning prison populations in the ‘developed’ world. Balzac said that behind every great fortune lies a great crime. I’d say that behind every business lies some kind of dodginess. By necessity: there are simply too many rules out there that if one focuses on obeying them one loses the focus of getting something done. A businessman starts something and hopes to wing it through legal wrangling and having a fall back position of thinking – well- I’ll just write off the investment if it fails. A criminal thinks: it’s worth a five year stretch to do this robbery. Now there is a difference, but it isn’t a difference of quality, it is one of degree. That doesn’t mean one has to condone either or both, but it does mean that we should recognize the human need and tendency to be dodgy.