Effects Of The Mafia On The American Dream

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Mafia’s effect on the American Dream Luxurious car, magnificent mansion, and a plethora of food and alcohol, this was what came with being a part of the Mafia in the 1920’s. People in the Mafia lived luxurious, cushy lifestyles, while also being able to provide for their family, but as the saying goes, “With every positive there is a negative”. The Mobsters lived well, but that came with the risk of being killed or imprisoned. Jay Gatsby, in the book The Great Gatsby, experienced some of these fears as well the luxurious lifestyle that came with being in the Mafia. Overall most people stayed out of the Mafia due to morals and fear, but the wealth certainly resulted in appeal for some.
During the “Roaring Twenties” in America everyone …show more content…

The positive effect of the Mafia is that it gave people a way to get rich fast. When people got rich it helped the local economy. They would also usually be protective of what neighborhood they were in. While this was good there were massive negative effects as well. One was that they had to protect their neighborhoods against other Mob which in the end the neighborhoods still withstood some damage. Another way the Mafia affected the American Dream is it hurt people that were self made. For example they would rob family shops and that would ruin the people’s business. The Mafia also supported activities that would hurt the people involved. One example of this is they would get people gambling and then they would get into debt. They would keep this person in debt causing them to become more and more poor. They also encourage the use of alcohol. Alcohol often led to people getting fired and families getting torn apart. Lastly the families would be forced into paying for the “protection” the Mobs would offer. If they declined their home would be robbed, but if they payed for the protection the family would have to waste all of their money and could go into debt. The Mafia also would not pay taxes which would keep that money from helping the surrounding area. Overall the Mafia had a negative effect on the American Dream due to harming people as well as causing many people to go into debt through gambling or

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