by Wiseguy » Sun Dec 20, 2015 12:29 am
Chris Christie wrote:NE1020 wrote:Im not a troll. But if this forum is more for people with advanced knowledge of LCN, which isn't me, Im fine with staying clear of making new threads to keep the quality of this board. I don't post that often and Im more into just reading posts by senior members anyway
Thanks for the welcoming JCB1977
Greetings, um, welcome to the, uh, board.
I actually never knew you existed before today, but ask whatever questions you want. There's a good number of well-rounded posters, Our "worst" recite book references. I recommend you do searches on things you're curious about and see if your topic has already been discussed. Otherwise, ask away. Steer clear of tallest/shortest/fattest/well endowed mobster ever questions and you'll be fine.
As far as your question: the largest criminal business is narcotics, which the Italian-American mafia has been light on. There's a few brushes here and there, there was the French Connection in the 1960's, but comparatively, the drug cartels of Mexico have 10x the power that the Italo-Mafia of America ever did. If we zoom into that demographric, the most elite criminal business within the LCN has been gambling in the long run, solid Union power until the 1990's followed by extortion. The Mafia-LCN down to any individual family- unlike a gang- didn't recruit solely counterfeiters in the '10's, bootleggers in the 20's, gambling in the 40's and so on. They instead recruited the best and brightest and well connected members of the day, at least in theory, there was nepotism and a decrease/change depending on how you look at it in the recruitment requirements. If tomorrow the USA outlawed the color pink and there was a need for that color, the members in the mafia would be deep in it and the up and comers involved in it. But others in other rackets would still find their place. It's never been a "gambling outfit" or a "drug outfit" in that they are directed structured to accommodate any individual racket. Made guys/mafiosi as members are diverse in their criminal rackets and eek a buck wherever they can. That's my take, get Wiseguy's, Pogo's, B.'s, take on this.
That said, what are your interests in this topic? introduce yourself. We have a section for that don't we? If not, we should, creates a friendly environment.
P.S.: You don't need to be an LCN expert to fit in here. In fact this topic is so broad that you have experts in different areas/eras/members/rackets. It's always a learning in process, no one here is a definitive expert on anything. So again, welcome.
I would just question the thing about the cartels having 10x the power the American mob had. At its peak the LCN was almost like a second government in several parts of the country. And through its union clout could shut down interstate trucking or shipping on the eastern seaboard. It also controlled the lion's share of illegal rackets and had a Commission to coordinate things and avoid wars. And this was all in the USA.
The Mexican cartels have a lot of power which comes from rampant political corruption in a relatively weak country. They make a lot of money but are still mostly one-trick ponies. Some of the groups and branched out into other crimes, like extortion, theft, human smuggling, etc., but if you took drugs away most would cease to exist.
One thing that has set the LCN apart, at least traditionally, is its diversity of operations. And that includes bridging the gap between the underworld and the legitimate one. One could argue that if you took gambling away, the smaller NY families would cease to exist. But the NY families are still rather diversified.
[quote="Chris Christie"][quote="NE1020"]Im not a troll. But if this forum is more for people with advanced knowledge of LCN, which isn't me, Im fine with staying clear of making new threads to keep the quality of this board. I don't post that often and Im more into just reading posts by senior members anyway :)
Thanks for the welcoming JCB1977[/quote]
Greetings, um, welcome to the, uh, board.
I actually never knew you existed before today, but ask whatever questions you want. There's a good number of well-rounded posters, Our "worst" recite book references. I recommend you do searches on things you're curious about and see if your topic has already been discussed. Otherwise, ask away. Steer clear of tallest/shortest/fattest/well endowed mobster ever questions and you'll be fine.
As far as your question: the largest criminal business is narcotics, which the Italian-American mafia has been light on. There's a few brushes here and there, there was the French Connection in the 1960's, but comparatively, the drug cartels of Mexico have 10x the power that the Italo-Mafia of America ever did. If we zoom into that demographric, the most elite criminal business within the LCN has been gambling in the long run, solid Union power until the 1990's followed by extortion. The Mafia-LCN down to any individual family- unlike a gang- didn't recruit solely counterfeiters in the '10's, bootleggers in the 20's, gambling in the 40's and so on. They instead recruited the best and brightest and well connected members of the day, at least in theory, there was nepotism and a decrease/change depending on how you look at it in the recruitment requirements. If tomorrow the USA outlawed the color pink and there was a need for that color, the members in the mafia would be deep in it and the up and comers involved in it. But others in other rackets would still find their place. It's never been a "gambling outfit" or a "drug outfit" in that they are directed structured to accommodate any individual racket. Made guys/mafiosi as members are diverse in their criminal rackets and eek a buck wherever they can. That's my take, get Wiseguy's, Pogo's, B.'s, take on this.
That said, what are your interests in this topic? introduce yourself. We have a section for that don't we? If not, we should, creates a friendly environment.
P.S.: You don't need to be an LCN expert to fit in here. In fact this topic is so broad that you have experts in different areas/eras/members/rackets. It's always a learning in process, no one here is a definitive expert on anything. So again, welcome.[/quote]
I would just question the thing about the cartels having 10x the power the American mob had. At its peak the LCN was almost like a second government in several parts of the country. And through its union clout could shut down interstate trucking or shipping on the eastern seaboard. It also controlled the lion's share of illegal rackets and had a Commission to coordinate things and avoid wars. And this was all in the USA.
The Mexican cartels have a lot of power which comes from rampant political corruption in a relatively weak country. They make a lot of money but are still mostly one-trick ponies. Some of the groups and branched out into other crimes, like extortion, theft, human smuggling, etc., but if you took drugs away most would cease to exist.
One thing that has set the LCN apart, at least traditionally, is its diversity of operations. And that includes bridging the gap between the underworld and the legitimate one. One could argue that if you took gambling away, the smaller NY families would cease to exist. But the NY families are still rather diversified.