I concur. Roger Donway, Walter's brother, writes about anti-trust and business issues. I completely disagree that crime is seldom done for gain. that is nonsense. Roger Donway does not deny white collar crime. He is most definitely against fraud, as an example. War is not a crime written large. the founding of our nation, as an example, was a crime committed? against the King? none of this makes much sense.

You are marked down already!
It is Roger Donway.

War is just crime written large. That is why "war crimes" is a redundant phrase. Crimes are seldom done with gain in mind. One exception to that is white collar crimes, of which Objectivists such as Walter Donway deny the existence.

So-called "street crime" which is impulsive, not rational, is minimal compared to state-sponsored and state-sanctioned crimes, which are planfully competent white collar crimes. But every society from the village to the trans-continental empire depends on willing followers. It takes fewer than 5% to show their disapproval and bring the rulers down.
See here:
http://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/20...

He's five foot-two, and he's six feet-four,
He fights with missiles and with spears.
He's all of thirty-one, and he's only seventeen,
He's been a soldier for a thousand years.

He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain,
A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew.
And he knows he shouldn't kill,
And he knows he always will,
Kill you for me my friend and me for you.

And he's fighting for Canada,
He's fighting for France,
He's fighting for the USA,
And he's fighting for the Russians,
And he's fighting for Japan,
And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way.

And he's fighting for Democracy,
He's fighting for the Reds,
He says it's for the peace of all.
He's the one who must decide,
Who's to live and who's to die,
And he never sees the writing on the wall.

But without him,
How would Hitler have condemned them at Dachau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone,
He's the one who gives his body
As a weapon of the war,
And without him all this killing can't go on.

He's the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame,
His orders come from far away no more,
They come from here and there and you and me,
And brothers can't you see,
This is not the way we put an end to war.

Zero percent or close to it.

My estimate is that about 50% of evil is done by politicians for the purpose of maintaining or increasing their power. Whether or not they claim it's for the "greater good" is irrelevant.

The other 50% is done by organized and unorganized criminals for their own short-term gain.

Agreed. It's the preferred excuse (righteous justification?) of butchers and tyrants.

100%