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Thank you. Pretty much any time you see the term "Mafia", you know you're dealing with amateur pseudo-journalism. I came here to point out that Sicilian organ

Thank you. Pretty much any time you see the term "Mafia", you know you're dealing with amateur pseudo-journalism. I came here to point out that Sicilian organized crime is probably not the "bank" here. Sicilian crime syndicates are generally not as powerful as the Campania/Napoli groups these days. The Sicilian tradition of protection rackets is actually based on an (arguably) noble history of maintaining the integrity of blood family against a constant stream of outside conquerors. I'm not defending organized crime in any way shape or form, but lumping the protection rackets together with drug traffickers and other gangs is just kind of wrong on some level.

bcks 15y ago
Your Sicily example and the article remind me of other "syndicates" operating in the wake of disaster and conflict. I'd read somewhere that the Yakuza have been tolerated for so long in Japan because of the social services and "protection" / "law enforcement" they provided in the aftermath of World War II. In Beirut, Hezbollah provides social services and protection that the State can't (or won't) particularly to the marginalized Palestinian refugee population. Likewise, I'm not defending the tactics, but there's an interesting thread here.
- sunchild 15y ago
  It's definitely a common theme around the world. I think it's not a coincidence that these places are islands or geographic crossroads where outside invasions are frequent during their history. Speaking of Japan, here's another interesting variation on the theme: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaibatsu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaibatsu Note that the names of the Zaibatsu families are some of today's biggest names in industry and finance.