I've seen that there are members here who feel that the mob is not so bad. To quote one post :
I still think they are good people, I don´t care what they do, the most important thing is if they love their wives, their children and their friends. That´s it. Who can say Carlo Gambino was a bad person just because he was a mafioso?
That disturbs me. Yes, we all joined this board because of our love for movies like The Godfather, and because of our interest in mobsters, and there is nothing wrong with that in itself. As long as we keep in perspective who these people
really are and how they really do affect our everyday lives.
Sure, a mobster can come off as a really nice father, a good neighbor and a cordial person. In that snese they are no different than the other neighbor that is the CEO of a bank or the owner of a restaurant chain. All of these people are capable of loving thier families, and being nice to their neighbors and friends. I'm sure that some of the biggest Dicatators in history were capable of loving those around them. But does that make them good people?
John Gotti was LOVED in his neighborhood. He threw parties for the people, and took care of many of them in different ways. He never bothered his neighborhood people. What he did didn't affect them, Right? I'm sure that if I lived next store to John Gotti when he was alive, I probably would have liked him as a nieghbor. He wouldn't bother me. What he did for a living wouldn't affect me, right?
Wrong. It affects all of us.
When you break it down and really look at the things that these guys do, you realize that they actually are affecting your life and indirectly bothering you.
They rig bids on city and governemnt jobs, and then charge huge prices for these contracts. That affects you and I as tax payers.
They monopolize many kinds of "legitimate" businesses. For example in New York they had the Fulton Fish Market locked up big time. They forced legitimate business owners there to provide " no show " jobs for their cronies. Doing that forced the owners of these businesses to raise their prices which eventually trickled down to you and I, the consumer. It caused us to pay more money for the fish that we bought from our local markets.
These mobsters ran the waterfront for many years. They forced shipping companies to hire more workers than were needed. At top Union scale wages. And usually those workers were cronies of the mob, and many times for the mobsters and Dons themselves, who wouldn't even bother to show up for work. Again these "no show" jobs were created for many of these mobsters so that they could establish that they held "legitimate" jobs for tax purposes. This in turn caused a large rise in operating expneses for these shipping companies, which in turn forced the companies to charge more money for the merchandise that they shipped and took delivery of. Again the domino effect takes place and these costs are passed on to you and I, the consumers, when we eventually but these items from retail outfits.
The mob deals in stolen goods. Well these goods are not stolen out of thin air. They are taken from businesses. In order to cover the costs of stolen merchandise these business owners must raise the price of their merchandise and pass those losses onto you and I. And if they put claims in through their insurance companies, what happens? The insurance companies have to make up for the monies that they continually have to pay out, and they do so by raising our insurance premiums.
The mob shakes down many business, promising to provide protection for these businesses. Prtoection from who? Protection from the mob, themselves. So many businesses have no choice but to pay these high protection fees to these mobsters, or they run the risk of these same mobsters putting them out of business by burning down thier stores. So how does the local businessman make up the difference in money that he is losing by paying protection money to the mobsters? He raises the cost of his goods that you and I purchase from those stores.
Drugs. One of the biggest money makers in the world is the drug trade. And the mob, like a shark in bloody waters, smells this and jumps right in. They set up these drug deals and help to import illegal drugs right into the country that you live in. Then they set up the local trafficing and distribution in local areas and neighborhoods. And who is affected by these drugs brought into our countries and sold in our neighborhoods? You and I are. Even not being actual users, we still subsidize through our taxes programs to rehabilitate those who use these drugs that are brought in by the mob. The use of drugs also escalates into crimes such as murder and robbery. Our tax dollars go to providing more policeman and law enforcement programs to fight drugs and the crimes they cause. Our neighbors are killed over drugs, robbed over drugs, etc. And all this is because of the mob's greed.
So the next time you are enamored by the story of a Carlo Gambino, a John Gotti, or a Lucky Luciano, and become disillusioned by thinking that these guys are good people because they love their family, and don't bother you, think really long and hard about how they really do affect you, your family and your everyday life.
Don Cardi
