Point taken, BI. I obviously overstated my point about the mob being forced into jail or legitamacy, however, I still believe the trend is in that direction.
I had hoped this thread would stay buried, so no one could call me on it!
I would venture to guess that the Mafia has been hurt more by the government and corporate America’s incursions on its previous criminal territories than all the RICO prosecutions that have taken place to date. For instance, gambling, prostitution, pornography and drug smuggling were traditionally the mob’s big money rackets. One could argue that drugs (and maybe prostitution) is all they have left.
Take gambling, f’rinstance. Used to be gambling was illegal, with casinos only in Vegas and Atlantic City, which were run by the mob. Now, Vegas is corporate run, there are casinos in virtually every state, and government run lotteries everywhere. Poor Guido – who want to play the numbers or shoot craps when he can go to the 7-11 and buy a $130 million Powerball ticket, or drive 40 miles to a casino. The one possible exception is sports betting.
Prostitution/pornography. The porno industry is getting corporatized and soft core porn videos are rapidly become huge. I have a friend who expects to see Disney enter the porno market (under some well-disgused subsidiary) any day. And what about our old pal internet porn. I’m willing to bet the circulation of “Big 'uns” has dropped hugely since about 1996. Prostitution is legal in Nevada, and a couch dance at one of the ubiquitous strip clubs isn’t far from the act.
Just a theory. Also, the big money guys in the mob may have figure out that their $$$ was better invested in the Dow than in the Down and Dirty.
President of the Vernon Dent fan club.
In reference to the above, I’d imagine there’s still money to be made in protection rackets and high interest loans to people down on their luck. Also, the mechanic where I work used to be a truck driver for one of the major US trucking firms. He was telling me before about a lot of trucks that ‘disappeared’ under bypasses and the like. Basically, you’d get so far and a truck cab would pull in front of you and slow down until you were forced to stop (keeping in mind that no trucker is going to play hero at this point and try to run the other guy off the road or something). A car comes along as well, you’re invited to get in, they drive you around for a bit, return you to your cab sans trailer and leave. You’re not hurt, but your shipment is gone to who knows where. A lot of companies put tracking devices into the trucks to see where they are at any point, but a lot of truckers disable the devices (I won’t get into it for brevity’s sake) so the company doesn’t know when they stopped at a bar or something (“I dunno why the device didn’t work… must be broken”) so it’s not that much protection. Just thought I’d mention it since it reminds me of the old “selling a truck o’ cigarettes” from Good Fellas.
“I guess it is possible for one person to make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.”
Yes.
I dunno if this is true or not, but I read somewhere that the old mafia numbers rackets were similar to some current state-run lotteries, the difference being that the mob gave you better odds!
k0myers
I dunno if this is true or not, but I read somewhere that the old mafia numbers rackets were similar to some current state-run lotteries, the difference being that the mob gave you better odds!
What is a numbers racket? What does it mean to “play the numbers?” I hear it all the time in gangster movies and the like.
“It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in an argument” - William McAdoo
[[So, it appears the mafia and mob are still alive in the USA, unfortunately, but less active than they once were. That reminds me, have you seen the Simpson’s episodes with Big Tony and his gang?]]
That’s “Fat Tony,” and he’s a legitimate businessman.
Numbers was a lottery that worked a neighborhood. Its a racket because they have a list of numbers you pick from (say like 1-1000). Only problem is that it may be missing the winning number or that the odds work toward it having a small payout vs what the take is. Usually its the former so that no one wins.
In Detroit, my friend’s, brother’s, cousin’s, college roomate’s, ex-wife’s, neighbor’s, co-worker tells me that the mob completely owns the produce business around here.
The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don’t have it.
George Bernard Shaw