Public property in mafia territory is unprotected and freely stealable

Evidence

Calzetta makes it clear that while any private dealer can qualify as a customer, “when a theft rakes place at the expense of the Railway Company, nobody cares.” In this part of Italy the most accurate definition of public property is that which everybody is entitled to steal. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 439

Categorization

• XREF: Directly evidences the reader’s Gambetta thesis — protection is sold to private parties, so anything public lacks a protection contract and is fair game.
• SEED: Essay angle: what counts as ‘public property’ reveals who is paying for protection in any political order.