Main Lesson

Dear Class 11,

For Tuesday's main lesson, I would like you to read the article I have uploaded (The lure of Mafia money during the Covid crisis).

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We've been learning about how the Prohibition in the U.S. gave rise to organised crime, and this article from the BBC is a great example of how those crime syndicates are still very much active in the world today - and in fact profiting from the current global crisis we are all experiencing.

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After you have read the article, I would like you to do a reflective writing piece again; some possible topics could be:

• Should the shop owners mentioned in the article accept help from the Mafia, knowing it will create a lifelong obligation for them or should they let their businesses go under rather than getting involved with criminals?

• What else could they do to save their businesses without getting into dealings with the Mafia?

• What are the moral aspects of the Mafia taking advantage of the current crisis to expand their dominance over small shop owners?

• What are the implications of the Mafia getting more and more powerful (could they become a political force, for example)?

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Again, like Monday's reflective writing topics, these are just suggestions for you to get started thinking about what you might write about.  If you can think of another aspect that you would prefer to write about, then please feel free to choose that rather than the ones I have given.

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And as always, please do be in touch if anything doesn't make sense or you need help.

Take care and stay well!

Elisabeth

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