I came here to complain about the same thing. I found the writing of the article to be terrible. So many tortured and silly phrases. That one in particular. Without paying taxes, all you'd have is the Camorra...
Also...
> "It has been a part of life in Naples for centuries—far longer than the fragile construct called Italy has even existed..."
Also...
> "It has been a part of life in Naples for centuries—far longer than the fragile construct called Italy has even existed..."
Fragile construct? Terrible writing.