The Carrawizard

I knew it. I knew it. Oh, how I knew it.

In a previous post of mine, I wrote about how I did not believe the Prohibition was working, by any means. I believe I also mentioned that it was helping to fuel the rise of gangs in America. Well, here we are now, nearing the end of these "Roaring Twenties," and that original belief of mine has proved to still be ringing true.

This decade has so far proved to be prosperous for most of us Americans, but even the wealthier among us cannot compare to the enormous profits that the mob has been reaping. They have completely undermined Prohibition! Who - tell me, just who - do you think provides the speakeasies with alcohol? Well, it certainly isn't Charles Chaplin! No, sir; it's the bootleggers. The gangsters. The mafia. The mob. The racketeers. However you prefer to call them.

Simply because the alcoholic drink was banned in this decade does not mean that people - men and women alike - chose to stop drinking. Enter the mob. Gangsters have made an extravagant, albeit lawless and blatantly illegal, enterprise of supplying beer and liquor to the speakeasies. And they, their fashion, and their lifestyles have become glorified! I should not be surprised; they have, essentially, become the Providers in our alcoholic drought.

Al "Scarface" Capone is my case-in-point. Ruling by the tommygun, he has built up perhaps the nation's largest crime syndicate, in Chicago. A syndicate, of course, based solely upon bootlegging. And yet, he enjoys the status of a rich celebrity, going to lengths as far as donating to charities to retain his public image. As of yet, the authorities have not been able to bring him to justice. Or, possibly, they are unwilling to do so...

I feel that even Gatsby might have taken part somewhat in some sort of underground criminal activity as this! Though I am still becoming acquainted with the man and may not yet be able to draw a justified judgment, his ol' pal Wolfsheim struck me as suspicious. I would not be surprised were I to find that Wolfsheim has connections with the mob. Moreover, Gatsby is enormously wealthy! He claims to have inherited his money, but I still have a gut feeling that that might not be the entire truth. I suppose I will have to wait to find out if Gatsby himself has any relations to the rising mafia of this day and age.


(Source: http://chicagotheroarin20s.tripod.com/the1920s.html)