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latingly for the sole purpose of prey–
ing on society.
Misconcept ions a lso abound
among those who accept the exis–
tence of the mob. Thanks to books
such as
The Godfather,
the idea that
the mob consists only of a close-knit
group of Sicilians or Ita lians has
been popularized. People are fur–
ther led to believe tha t aLI Mafia
members live up to a high moral
code and only prey on one another.
But most of these ideas tend to
overglamorize the image of orga–
nized crime in America. First of aU,
criminals a re "organized" primarily
to sock it to the "suckers," name ly
Mr. and Mrs. John
Q.
Public, not
themselves. Secondly, their codes
are designed chiefty to save their
own skins-not to be highly moral–
istic. Finally, and perhaps most dan–
ge rous of the mi sconceptions,
organized crime does not consisten- ·
tirely ofltalians or Sicilians.
A Typlcal American Enterprlse
Be fore Prohibition, Anglos, Jews
and Irish each dominated crime un–
ti! they were able to join the higher
classes of society legitimately. Dur–
ing Prohibition the newest minority,
the Italians, carne to domínate
crime. But many of the previous
criminals elected to stay with the
Ma fia. And today blacks and Puerto
Ricans are adding to the ranks of
organized crime as well. While Ita l–
ians may still domínate organi zed
crime in certain areas, the profits are
shared by many others. Crime is not
the product of any one ethnic
group- it is an American enterprise.
Donald R. Cressey, professor of
sociology at the University of Cali–
fornia , Santa Barbara, and orga–
ni zed-crime expert, stated in his
book
Theft of the Nation:
"There is
a remarkable similarity between
both the structure and the cultural
values of the Sicil ian Mafia and the
American confedera tion.... There
have been extensive contacts be–
tween Sicilians and Americans. This
does not mean that the Mafia has
diffused through the United States,
however. Whatever was imported
has been modified to fit the condi–
tions of American life. A place has
been made for organized crime to
The
PLAIN TRUTH September 1978
arise in the Uni ted States, just as a
place has been made for the Mafia
in Sicily" (p. 25).
The Blggest Conglomerate
Organized crime's financia! wizard,
Meyer Lansky, once said, "We' re
bigger than U.S. Steel." Either he
was talking about his own individ–
ua l enterprises or he was being
overly modest. According to Ra lph
Salerno, former head of New York's
Central InteWgence Bureau and
principal author of
The Crime Con–
federation ,
estimating even on the
most conservative basis, organized
criminals gross $40 billion a year–
ten times as much as U.S. Steel!
And net profits, of course, are pro–
portionally much higher because the
crime confederation does not pay
taxes on its illegal income. Annual
profit of the syndicate is greater
than that of General Motors, Stan–
dard Oil, Ford , General Electric and
U.S. Steel combined!
Most ofthis money is generated by
illegal gambling. Est ima tes of the
amount bet illegally each year range
from $5 billion to $50 billion- proba–
bly more than the total annual mil i–
tary expenditures of the U.S. during
the peak ofthe Vietnam War.
Organized crimínals also add to
the ir fortunes wíth loansharking
(with
weekly
interest rates sorne–
times as high as a staggering 150
percent), the narcotics trade, labor
racketeering, extortion, fraud , and
o ther illegal activities.
These nefarious pursui ts generate
so much iocome that trying to hide
it from Uncle Sam often becomes a
headache for confederation mem–
bers. In the last severa! years the
mob has come up with the perfect
ou tle t- inves tment in Jegitima te
businesses.
Muscling In on " Stralght" Society
Despite organized crime's huge
wealth and resultant power, the av–
erage citízen is likely to be unmoved
when confronted with it. " l don't
deal with loansharks and
r
don' t
gamble with the bookies, so it isn't
affecting me," he might say. "The
mob's victims probably deserve
what they get for getting mixed up
wi th crooks." But does organized
cri me really affect only gamblers,
pimps and dope addicts?
Notice what the President's Com–
mission on Law Enforcement and
Administration of Justice said : "Or–
ganized crime is not merely a few
preying on a few. In a very real
sense, it is dedicated to subverting
not only American institutions, but
the very decency and integrity that
a re the most cherished attributes of
a free society"
(Task Force Report:
Organized Crime,
p.
24).
Many unwittingly help the mob
when they go to a restaurant whose
lineo service is run by organized
criminals or when their own gar–
bage is picked up by members of a
corrupt union . Such people contrib–
ute unknowingly to the coffers of
organized crime whenever they huy
food, clothes or books that have
been hauled by a mob-owned truck
company. "The mob is a cancer on
this land," exclaimed former N ew
England mobs ter Vincent Teresa.
"Don't think for a moment it isn't.
lt's worming its way into every legit–
ima te business you can imagine. It's
a house guest when you sit down to
eat because a lot of the food is man–
ufactured or dis tributed by mob–
controlled firms.
lt
reaches into your
pocketbook when you go to a race–
track, huy a dirty book, si t down at
a swanky restaurant, sleep in a mo–
tel or hotel, or deal with sorne
banks. It costs you money when
your food or lumber or television
sets a re transported in mob-run
trucks or when a truckload of ciga–
rettes or liquor is hijacked, because
that's tax money that should have
eased your burden"
(My Lije in the
Mafia,
p. 345).
It is estimated that in New York
City alone, consumers pay hundreds
of millions of dollars a year in a rti–
ficially high prices because of
Mafia-controlled activities. For in–
stance, corrupt ion among New York
City butcher unions and specialty
meat producers means the mob is
usuaLiy the first to get a prime cut of
the action. One syndicate man tes ti–
fied that as a result of his activities
the price of sorne meat items was
hiked as much as ten cents a pound .
lncreased tra ns porta tion and
shipping costs can in many cases
31