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History of the american mafia
Should there be interference of government
History of the american mafia
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Mafia as Government
History and Introduction
The history of the Mafia began in the ninth century, when a secret society was formed to protect the people of Sicily. Sicily was occupied by Arab forces. A group of Sicilians fled into the countryside to escape, and later to fight, the encroaching forces.
This group became the Mafia
The group’s original intentions were to create a sense of loyalty and respect for tradition, culture and family. The Mafia protected its' members interests and promoted protected individuals and businesses in exchange for loyalty and monetary tribute. As time passed, and the Mafia expanded to the Americas, the Mafia became more “criminal”, engaging in provision of illegal services and collection of taxes in defiance of the “legitimate” government.
It is the purpose of this work to argue that the Mafia, a “criminal” organization, meets the criteria to be considered a government. The terms Mafia or mob used in this work should be considered to be synonymous and to refer to the American Mafia. The Mafia’s structure is similar in nature to a feudal government system, with agents reporting to regional governors, who in turn report to the organization’s leader. While the mob may or may not possess an overall head, individual regions of the mob may be thought of as a form of local government. The Mafia, as it is currently being discussed, exists within the confines of the United States, and thus may be in competition with, or at least overlapping the geographic areas of other government systems.
Definitions of Government
Ayn Rand has much to say on the “proper function” of government, but it is unclear as to what she considers a formal definitionon of what exactly categorizes an organization as a government. Her most specific response to the question appears in the opening sentence of “The Nature of Government”. The opinion is that the use of force and the enforcement of rules should be limited to government. (Rand)
Randall Holcombe references Robert Dahl and Max Weber, summarizing their points of view that a monopoly on the use of force in a given area is the defining characteristic of government, thus adding a spatial characteristic to the definition. Holcombe further points out that obviously a monopoly on the use of coercive force is not required as can be seen from examples of ov...
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...orms of government will “die out” over time, then the Mafia must be relatively efficient. Regardless, efficiency is quite obviously NOT a requirement to be considered a government.
Conclusion
Of course any number of normative arguments may be raised as to the relative “fairness” of Mafia governance. That it lacks some air of legitamacy or morality is not at issue. The Mafia lacks a constitution, thus enabling a wide range of government action. Rights are accorded to citizens at the whim of government agents, laws may unknown and erratically enforced, shifts within the leadership of government may be violent and have unstabilizing effects on the region. However, none of these points are at issue here. The argument here is not that the Mafia is the best government, or even a good government. It is simply that it meets an objective criteria to be considered as a government.
Bibliography:
Holcombe, Randall G., “The Distinction Between Clubs and Governments,” in The
Economic Foundations of Government, New York: New York University Press,
1994 (Chapter 5)
Rand, Ayn, “The Nature of Government,” The Virtue of Selfishness. New York: Signet
Books, 1964, pp 107-115
Thomas Reppetto’s book is a solid account of the events that took place between 1880 and 1995. The events are detailed and contain fact and evidence, he uses first hand knowledge, being a former chicago commander of detectives, Reppetto was well equipped to write this book. In American Mafia, and its rise to power, Reppetto shows the different parts of the mafia and their communication with the police and italian civilians. The book starts off showing the worst part of the mob, or mafia, and how bad they truly are. Using examples like how many people they’ve taken out and how they’d be one of the richest fortune 500 companies, ift was legal. The book also has how the police reacted to the crimes, in chapter one, they take you into the lives
Organized crime is a collective result of the commitment, knowledge, and actions of three components: (1) Criminal groups, who are core persons tied by racial, linguistic, ethnic or other bonds; (2) Protectors, who are persons who protect the group’s interests; and (3) Specialist support, which are persons who knowingly render services on an side-job basis to enhance the group’s interests. In order to thrive, an organized crime group needs many different elements. First, it needs an ensured continuity of members, clients, supporters, funds, etc. Additionally, it needs structure, criminality, violence, memberships based on common grounds, and a willingness to corrupt a power and profit goal. Generally, mafia organized crime groups disguise themselves behind the ownership of a legitimate business to avoid questioning from the Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) regarding any financial sources. The ille...
The mafia is noticeably and intentionally characterized in the documentary, The Sicilian Girl, and the literature, Italian Mafia, by four defining physiognomies of longevity, organizational and cultural complexities, a claim to exercise a political dominion over their areas of settlement and a resulting ability to control legitimate markets. These four most significant, defining characteristics of the Italian Mafia are met by Rita’s ‘mafia orientated’ family in Partanna in Sicily.
more clearer when put in the light of an analysis of how the mafia enterprise
The mafia is know to come from Palermo, Sicily, Italy - this is where many bosses were born includi...
The Mafia is a secret criminal organization that has great economic and political control over large parts of Sicilian society and operates both criminal and legitimate enterprises in the United States. It is believed to have started during Sicily's late Middle Ages, beginning as separate bonds of strong-arm enforcers hired by local landowners. It eventually evolved into a network of independent groups governing in rural areas. With the Sicilian immigration of the late 19th century, the Mafia began to operate in several large United States cities. During the period of Prohibition it monopolized the trade in bootleg liquor and controlled loan sharking, gambling, and prostitution. Competing Mafia families established mutually recognized territories, reaching agreement by negotiation or by intimidation. By the mid-1930 the Mafia had taken on the institutionalized structure that is now typical of organized crime in the United States.
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The American Mafia's modern organizational structure was created by Salvatore Maranzano in 1931. All inducted members are referred to as “Made Men”. This signifies that they are untouchable in the criminal underworld, and any harm brought to them will be met with retaliation. The Mafia is an organized body of national criminals, whom operate currently in Italy and the U.S., and have a harsh. Complex behavioral code. The life of a mobster is like a tight-net family that will protect their loved ones, and their respect, at any costs.
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Once Mussolini was in power he tried to “purge” the mafia (Britz, et al., 2006, p.31). This purge by Mussolini lead to the breakdown of the Neopolitan camorra while the Sicilian mafia managed to survive (Britz, et al., 2006). The camorra never recovered and are “relatively powerless” today (Britz, et al., 2006, p.30). However, Mussolini’s purge failed in multiple ways. The first being that the mafia rose back into power after Mussolini left office due to the same reason they originally rose to power, lack of social order. While in office Mussolini failed to provide “government policy and social order” (Britz, et al., 2006, p. 31). The second failure of Mussolini’s purge was that the mafia once again adapted and became more organized. An additional failure of the purge is that mafia members fled Sicily to the United States (Britz, et al., 2006). Once in the United States there was a consistent reason for members joining La Cosa Nostra (LCN) in America, just as there was in Sicily. Generally people that joined LCN in America came from “an impoverished or working-class background” which was similar to the lower socio-economic class background of Sicilian LCN members (Britz, et al., 2006, p. 33). After the American faction of the Italian mafia was established, they proceeded to evolve just like the Sicilians did. The American mafia was more subtle than that of the
The Mafia originated on the island of Sicily, Italy during the mid nineteenth century. These “families” were formed to protect themselves from intruders, often foreigners. They called themselves mafiosos. They then formed small
The mafia originally started in Sicily, Italy more than 100 years ago. Mafia is defined as a secret criminal society/organization/syndicate which is known for its intimidation and involvement in organized crime. Immigration of Italian Mafia to the US all started from the moment when Benito Mussolini came to power in 1922. Mussolini viewed the mafia as a possible threat to his Fascist party. Later that year he launched a brutal operation during which more than 1,000 Mafiosi were convicted and thrown in jail. Some of the higher ranked Mafiosi escaped to the United States and that was the beginning of the US Mafia as we know it today. In the US the Mafia started getting involved in several of businesses and started expanding its organization.
Imagine a world where law has no power, where the Mafia does what they want, when they want. Go back to the mid 1900’s Italy and put yourself as a civilian filled with fear and terrorized by the Mafia. Where you can not go anywhere without turning your head every minute, wondering if you will be attacked, robbed or just caught up in some crazy shootout. The mafia changed the world by creating organized crime.
DIONNE, E. J., Special to the New York Times. (1984, October 4). A PROFILE OF THE AMERICAN MAFIA: OLD BOSSES AND NEW COMPETITORS. New York Times (Late Edition (east Coast)), p. A.1. Retrieved May 28, 2011, from Banking Information Source. (Document ID: 952009341).