GRIZ BEAR COMMENTS: I’m afraid the mob is back

I was thinking the other day about the mob, you know, the Mafia and organized crime and how they operated back in the day.

The mob bosses set people up in businesses and forced others out of their businesses - sometimes permanently.

They exercised control over businesses and trades, forcing the owners to give them a cut of the profits or have their businesses shut down and possibly suffer great bodily harm.

And, the Mafia set up gambling rings, took advantage of people with business loans, and made large profits from the sale of liquor, tobacco and other things often heavily regulated by the government.

They made it their business to know everybody else’s business and to deal with those who interfered with their business.

After bloody battles and lots of major stings and arrests, the government has pretty much shut down many of the old mob operations. What a relief!

But then I had this scary thought.

Who is it today that controls and regulates businesses, taking a major cut off the top through licenses, permits and taxes? Who tells business owners how they must operate, who they can hire and fire, and how much in wages they must pay - or face penalties and be shut down?

Who operates the biggest gambling rings around - and often in the name of education even though they encourage greed, covetousness and prey on those who are uneducated and haven’t learned their math?

Who controls and makes huge profits off the sale of liquor, tobacco and other things often heavily regulated and prohibited to others?

And what do they do to those who try to edge into such business without first submitting to their control and turning over a huge part of their profits?

Who is always looking into our private business in order to maintain their control?

Don’t get me wrong; I support good government. But it’s scary to think of the similarities between our government and the mob!

And, where do we turn for help in dealing with this new Mafia organization of sorts?

Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected].

Opinion, Pages 4 on 07/17/2013