I find it very interesting that the Outfit here in Chicago doesn't kill people anymore. Obviously a lot of the posters disagree with me, but I still wonder how you keep a large, clandestine criminal network under control without the use of murder.
For these guys to make a lot of money you have to have a lot of criminals kicking up and what on earth is there to stop them from making a deal if they have no fear of getting killed.
People say "well they still beat you up," well, who the f**k cares.
I think that is a pretty telling development and IMO speaks to greatly diminished activity.
I think it's possible they've become a little smarter and figured out ways to circumvent violence but at the end of the day I don't really see how a large-scale mob operation functions without murder.
My two cents.