(no subject)

[ewx]

the terrorists will grow up to be Burger King managers and shoe salesmen. Via addedentry.

Comments

[gerald_duck]

More insidious is the claim that buying drugs, software piracy, counterfeit goods or whatever will fund organised crime.

I've never understood that one.

Firstly, the drugs and software piracy is crime, and has at least a modicum of organisation itself. Presumably, they mean it funds other organised crime?

Secondly, what is this other organised crime, and why does it need funding? Surely if the other organised crime wasn't profitable, the organised criminals would notice, stop doing it, and start selling even more ganja and counterfeit LaCoste polo shirts?

[armb.livejournal.com]

I guess, like businesses, sometimes organised crime needs money invested in it to make more money later. And since inviting the public to buy shares is tricky, you use money from another operation that is already showing a profit. (And loss-making operations can be worthwhile if you can use them for money-laundering. I assume this involves illegal accounting practices to make it look like you make a profit when you didn't, with the difference from Enron etc. being that you do actually have the resulting money, it's just that it really came from somewhere else.)
But I think it's also trying to say "look this is organized crime, you might think this particular crime might be victimless, but you are still giving money to the sort of people who engage in extortion and kidnap and torture, they might do that even if you didn't buy drugs/counterfeit/copied whatever but they still aren't the sort of people you shouldn't want to give money to if you can avoid it".

[damerell.livejournal.com]

Perhaps they are less likely to engage in kidnap & torture if they can make money selling drugs?