After entering the website https://onepercenterbikers.com/ I realized that I had discovered a new universe. It told the story of the uncompromising world of one percent of motorcycle clubs. They differ from the remaining 99 percent in that they do not unite so-called law-abiding citizens. They live by their own rules.
The website contains a description of over 100 clubs that create a complex system of mutual connections. Some are global organizations, others operate locally. All of them ruthlessly look after their own interests in the area they control. They create alliances and wage wars. Everything is tied together in a system characterized by an unstable balance. How to understand it?
I drew an infographic on which I placed all the clubs listed on the website on concentric circles, in alphabetical order. Then I connected them with lines, where red means animosity, white - alliance. Additionally, I added a time context. Clubs with a longer history are placed further from the center of the graphic. Newer clubs – closer to the center. A somewhat complicated web has been created. It requires concentration to follow all the information contained in it. Nevertheless, something emerges from it that is almost invisible when browsing the website.
1. Density of connections. It is immediately obvious which clubs have generated the most interactions with the others. These are: Bandidos, Galloping Goose, Hells Angels, Iron Order, Mongols, Outlaws and Pagans. One can suspect that these clubs are the most significant and expansive. This is confirmed by the FBI, which considers four of the seven mentioned to be a particular threat to public order.
2. History. It seems that the vast majority of clubs were established between 1945 and 1980. And it is from these that the most influential clubs originate. The exceptions are Outlaws (founded in 1935) and Iron Order (2004).
3. Quality of relationships. Clubs that have an active “foreign policy” usually do not use violence alone. They understand that in order to defeat a strong opponent, they need a system of alliances (and indeed, the graphic shows two basic players: the Hells Angels and the Outlaws. Alliances with these clubs determine subsequent connections. There is no club that has proper relations with both of the above. Nor with allies of both of the above.) The exception to this rule is the Iron Order. The club was founded late, mainly by renegades, so in order to gain influence and territory, it had to go to war with everyone.
This is the beauty of data visualization. Order emerges from apparent chaos. And the aberrations that disrupt this order.
Comments