Art: "The Japanese are not keen on crime, but neither the law nor organized crime like disorder. It isn't good for business."

That is the answer, precisely.

Americans are control freaks, even for things that can't be controlled. Control here is an obsession, a very expensive obsession. And it doesn't work. You may not like prostitution, drug use, protection rackets, smuggling and loansharking, but it's always been around and will always be around.

Many/most of the victims of organized crime are actually willing victims, and got into it entirely through their own efforts. But many 'normal' people just don't understand that you will never protect people from themselves, not ever.

But organized crime does have rules, which is more than can be said for the current street gangs, which are composed mainly of vicious psychos.

Pre-gang days in Las Vegas, you could wander practically anywhere at any time of day or night, and you would be safe if you played by the rules. If you were a paying customer who just came to Vegas for the weekend to gamble, eat and see a show, fine. If your wallet was lifted between the airport and your hotel, you told the hotel clerk. More often than not, your wallet would be returned within 12-24 hrs (sometimes with a little more cash in it than you remembered having); if you happened to see a newspaper the next day, there might be a mention of a known pickpocket being found dead in the desert outside down. His advertised death was a warning to others who might have similar ideas: don't annoy the paying customer or This Could Happen to You.

In fact, the people who had either lived in Vegas for many years, or who had been visiting for many years, would be absolutely THRILLED if the Mafia would take over the town like it used to.

You aren't going to get perfection in this kind of business, so you'd be better off choosing the lesser of the evils.

For those of you who are too young to have heard it: If our government tried to run organized crime, they would screw it up. But if the Mafia ran our government, we would be in much better shape than we are now.

Sue