Protection Rackets And Terror

(Conspiracy Nation, 5/19/02) -- Bob Braile writes that "Years ago my grandfather, Angelo Braile, immigrated to this country from Italy. He got a job as a barber on Grand Avenue in Queens, N.Y.... In this Italian neighborhood, as in others, there were some 'wise guys' who had a different idea of how the American Dream was supposed to work. They believed they could make a living by taking money from all the local shop owners in exchange for 'protection.' Basically, if the shop owner paid his percentage, his business was left alone and he could survive. If, however, the shop owner refused, either the customers would be scared away until there was no business, or an unfortunate accident would befall his shop." [1]

If the shop owner paid his "tax", he'd be "protected."

Perhaps too simplistic is the opinion of a different author that "all governments are basically protection rackets. They take your dough, crowd your freedoms and get nasty when you 'misbehave.'" [2] Yet there is at least some truth in what he says.

"Tax freedom day" occurs sometime in May. That's the day when you stop sending your income to the government and get to keep what you earn, until the end of that year.

"But Conspiracy Nation," (you might ask), "What do I get in return?"

What do you get for all that money you've been sending to the government? You get protection:

You get protection against destitution in your future, when you are old.
You are protected from drugs such as marijuana.
You are protected from "hate speech."
You are protected from owning guns.
You are protected from alternative medical practitioners.
You are protected from the protectors themselves, who can always withdraw their protection and allow terrorist attacks unless you keep sending money to the protectors.

The protectors keep wanting more money. From time to time they withdraw their protection momentarily. When that happens, the people are terrorized (such as what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, when the government withdrew its protection.) The terrorized people are eager to send more money to the protectors. "Please, please, protect us!" they cry.

The protectors gladly accept the increased money. They offer the people a new bureaucracy for their increased safety: The Office of Homeland Security. "Tax freedom day" gets pushed back to sometime in late June of each year.

Other variants of the protection racket:

The "good cop/bad cop" routine is a version of the protection racket: the "good cop" wants to protect you from the "bad cop."
Some companies think, "Why not just pay the money directly to the terrorists?" They assume that government is not Tweedledee to the Tweedledum terrorists, so they choose to cut out the government middleman and pay directly to the terrorists. "Oil companies in South America and Middle Eastern airlines are among those paying to prevent their businesses being damaged, according to the magazine Forbes Global. It claimed timber companies in South-east Asia have also made protection payments and until recently, a Jewish-owned bank was paying off the Lebanese Islamist group Hizbollah." [3]
Guarantee of "safe passage" by the king. "Campaign contributions" are a form of "protection" money paid to the king, not always just bribes. "Those who pay tribute are (or believe they are) buying the right to function as they wish, to be left alone, not to be set upon by those with official power to harm them, a right to be treated with special consideration, to be allowed to cross the king's terrain in peace." [4]

------- Notes -------
[1] "Health Care Reform... Legalizing The Protection Rackets"
by Bob Braile, D.C.
http://www.braile.net/barackets.htm
[2] http://www.mimbres.com/holp/holpath/pro_rack.htm
[3] "Companies 'are paying protection money' to terrorists"
By Paul Peachey
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=96943
[4] "The King's Protection" by Meg Greenfield
http://www.campaignfinancesite.org/book/html/258.html
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