The whole thing revolves around greed. It may seem a good idea to cover and kill for the boss. But if the boss is in jail…Maybe he won’t be boss. Maybe it could be me who is boss getting all the stuff he gets.
You watch too many films and TV serials.
I know this thread has gone cold, but in case anyone is still interested in these issues I wanted to recommend a great recent (2001) book by Maurice Possley and Rick Kogan, called “Everybody Pays.”
It is a fascinating true story by two Chicago reporters on the long (20 year!) battle to put away a mafia hitman, and the personal cost to a lone brave eyewitness who was out walking his dog one night and happened to look a murderer right in the eyes only seconds after he shot a man to death.
The two central characters, the hitman and the eye witness, emerge as complicated and–each in his own way fascinating–human beings. The hitman is a ruthless killer but also a devoted husband and father to his four adopted children. The eye witness battles with alcoholism and himself winds up doing time for petty thievery.
The story is absolutely riveting and (to me at least) ultimately optimistic, but extremely sobering.
Constantine
Another thing to consider is that in many places the “mob” DOES run everything. When a mob gets that powerful they control the government. In fact, they BECOME the government. There really isn’t much difference between the way John Gotti would have run the US if he’d been able and the way various two-bit dictators run third world countries. And of course, the whole history of the feudal system is just a case of mafiosi running everything, only with no government to keep them in check.
Old-time mob control in many areas has gone downhill in recent decades due to several factors, e.g.,
- The RICO act. By far the most effective law to control it. The feds just use wiretaps, some insiders turning states for a lighter term, the odd FBI planted agent, etc. Don’t have to worry about most witnesses changing stories or dying. Juries have had their ids kept secret. (There was one, non-mob, trial here where the scuzz ball’s lawyers are trying to get a judge to turn over the jurors ids. Not likely.)
- (As mentioned) The Code of Silence is flat out gone.
- The old system of “Honor” is gone as well. There is virtually no trust left within the system. Sammy the Bull’s climb is a classic example of that.
- Newer immigrant gangs are more agressive and taking away a lot of the business. Just the standard business cycle for gangsters.
OTOH, in NYC, they still control cement, the fish market, and most construction. Since these are all “legitimate” businesses, it’s much harder to get funding for adequate investigations of them.