Organizations like the Yakuza, 'Ndrangheta, Cosa Nostra, the Irish Mafia, etc, are part of many countries, to bigger or smaller fashion.
But to someone from those countries, what do you think was the original/historical cause for such organizations to develop?
My country - Portugal - has some degree of presence of these organizations but, to my knowledge, we never developed our domestic version of a crime syndicate. And we are not a bunch of choir boys. Something just kept things from forming. And that intrigues me.
So, what is the understanding of someone from a country where the organizations exist?
I'm in the Continental US and our contractor told us about building a porch on his personal house. He was in a historic district and not allowed to make changes without a waiver, even though the porch would make it more like the houses around his, it was not an allowed change. He went through the proper channels, nothing. Until someone he was whining to told him "go on Tuesday, Manny is working. Give him the papers & $500 in an envelope.". That worked.
So sometimes here too, all it takes is a bag of cash and the right worker.