Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Mafia is alive and kicking

The Mafia in Italy is alive and kicking. The Economist reports that it has extended its tentacles from its traditional base in the south to the northern region.

The fact that the ‘Ndrangheta, a crime syndicate born in the toe of the Italian boot, should be found in cahoots with local politicians in a town 60km (38 miles) from the French border is striking evidence of something that is gradually becoming clear: the mafia is no longer a southern phenomenon in Italy, but a national one.
Of the 22 local authorities disbanded last year because of alleged infiltration by organised crime, four were outside the south. What is happening along the coast near Rome is unclear. Some investigators fear a turf war may have started between local hoodlums and Camorra mobsters intent on expanding their influence.
The report mentions how the Mafia has infiltrated various local councils and at least one instance where it helped a politician get elected to the European parliament. No point in fretting about the nexus between politicians and criminals in India; like inflation, it is a global phenomenon. Think of the notorious links between politicians and criminal groups in Japan.

To take this further, it is a mistake to think of politics and crime as two distinct vocations. There are politicians in all countries (including the US) who are known to have engaged in criminality. And criminals do find it expedient to become politicians themselves. So, you have two sets of criminals: one operates within the framework of the law and the other operates outside it. Both profit by breaking the law. 

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

how very relevant; I was watching Ross kemp's series titled extreme world, which reflects on the nexus :

The 2 series go across Globe (twice)

Episode 1 – Chicago
Episode 2 – Democratic Republic of the Congo
Episode 3 – Mexico
Episode 4 – Haiti
Episode 5 – London
Series 2

Episode 1 – Karachi
Episode 2 – Venezuela
Episode 3 – Glasgow
Episode 4 – Marseille
Episode 5 – New Orleans
Episode 6 – Kenya and Tanzania

Anonymous said...

More on Extreme World series is available on

SKY http://sky1.sky.com/ross-kemp/ross-kemp-extreme-world &
the Obvious
WikiPedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Kemp:_Extreme_World

Anonymous said...

a) Huh? Inflation isn't a global phenomenon! I thought deflation is the major threat in the West?
b) The surprise isn't that other countries have corruption. I mean, they are human beings too, aren't they. Why expect anything different? The surprise is how come they are a developed country in spite of mafia, etc, while India isn't. In spite of 65 years of being a democracy.

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