Philosophy of the Italian American Mafia

Philosophy of the Italian the Statesn MafiaThe Italian maffia came to power in America in the 1920s from Sicily, Italy (Staff). It became cognise as organized crime (also kn birth as the Mob) and became centered in New York City, divided among phoebe bird study crime families, which included nineteen additional family units around the coun pronounce (Jrank). The five study families were the Bonnano, Columbo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese families who were organized through the efforts of Salvatore Charles ( lucky) Luciano. (Jrank). This was the beginning of the very powerful counterculture American crime syndicate. A counterculture is a sub ethnic practice, which is consciously intended to challenge the set of the larger society, rejecting the major values, norms, and practices of the larger society, and replaces them with a new set of cultural patterns (Thomas).From a sociological perspective, which is a look beyond commonly held beliefs to the surreptitious meanings behind human actions, Lucky Lucianas special contrisolelyion to the success of the mafia depended on his running the show like a legitimate business, found on profit and loss capitalism as a calling card of directors would be run by a CEO (Thomas 4). One major difference, however, was that Luciano, as the CEO, conducted business as an absolute dictator who saw no limitations on taking down oppositional viewpoints through violence. It was like an inner political sympathies within the larger society that had factions within (like political parties, in this issue opposing families) that conducted wars against each an other(prenominal).Sociological Imagination as outlined by C. Wright Mills is the ability to see the connection between the larger realism and your personal life. It is also the capacity to range from the most impersonal and foreign hapics to the most intimate features of the human self-and to see the relations between the both (Thomas 5). Luciano started out his c atomi c number 18er in a legitimate business as a clerk for a hat company around 1914. just now by 1916, he was dealing with drugs and had his major run-in with the law, which earned him six-spot months at a reformatory for that crime (Editors). From that time on, Luciano got involved with other questionable businesses such as bootlegging, prostitution, gambling, loan sharking (charging very high come to rates), drug distribution as a natural extension of bootlegging, and boil racketeering (Jrank, 2/5). All of these enterprises had certain small levels of legitimacy but al vogues ended up tinged with major levels of criminality, illegal operations, and various unnatural legal practices. Luciano and his fellow colleagues saw no conflicts in carrying out these moot businesses with an iron hand and with few moral and ethical considerations.Ethnocentrism is defined by W. LaVerne Thomas as the tendency to view atomic number 53s own culture and assemblage as superior. In addition, it is the belief that the characteristics of ones group or society are right and good, helping to build group unity. (Thomas, 35). This kind of situation was a very dominant characteristic of the American mafia organization in its heyday. It was initiated from Sicilian culture in Italy, and nearly all the bosses and godfathers who led the family organizations had grow in Italian culture that came from Sicily. The New York mafia was dominated by New Yorks five major families previously mentioned, along with other more(prenominal) minor Italian families with names like Profaci, Gagliano, Mangano, Marazano, and Masseria. (Bio, 2/4). The only representation to move up in the organization of the New York mafia was to be geographically located in the New York City area and be of Italian (preferably Sicilian) heritage. There were major exceptions to the Italian rule, however, most nonably Lucky Lucianos most trusted and important Jewish friends and allies from his youth-Meyer Lansky and Ben jamin Bugsy Siegel. (Bio, 1/4). Nevertheless, neither of those two non-Italians was ever able to climb to the very top of the leadership of the mafia organization or lead one of the major or minor Sicilian crime families. There were also other ethnic communities that competed with the American Italian mafia-primarily the Irish, Russians, and Polish organizations.Thomas defines Cultural relativism as an attitude in which there is a belief that cultures should be judged by their own standards rather than by applying the standards of another culture. In other words, it is the try on to understand cultural practices from the points of view of the members of the society being studied, (Thomas, 36), In the casing of the American mafia that was showd on Sicilian origins this means that morality and morality came from a culture that is male-dominant, sexist, and machismo. There was always a defined polity It was a mixture of ethics, friendship, family, property, and lifestyle intermixe d with violence, corruption, trust, faith, and a certain virtuoso of honor. (Gambetta). The family always came first with a strong sense of loyalty. It was run as a real true organization, but a clandestine one that was better obeyed and even better understood. (Reppetto)I cannot say that I sum with the basic philosophy of the Italian American mafia as exposit in this paper as an example of a good countercultural philosophy. Although they bet to have an organized structure that imitates the structure of our overall American government and society working within a capitalistic for-profit basis, what it is definitely abstracted at its core is a reasonable moral and ethical code based on democratic principles. They are totalitarian in nature, given to violence against the poor and less powerful, and definitely ethnocentric, sexist, and out primarily for their own good. They do not care for the needs of the common man, only themselves. This is how they essentially keep themselve s in control and have power over everyone else. This is how they try to be above the common laws and liberties of the land. Their very existence flies in the face of the US Constitution. Even after Lucky Luciano was in prison at the tail end of his career, he tried to offer the US help in the war effort during World War II by using his criminal connections in Italy to advance the Allies cause. (Bio) This effort, of course, was spurned by the US government, but it certainly showed how Lucianos ethics and moral base was constantly challenged and off base. Even after than that, after Lucky Luciano was deported to Italy, never to return to the US legally, he traveled to Cuba where he was also later deported back to Italy because of criminal activity, where he remained under surveillance and not allowed to progress Naples. He was still involved with drug trafficking at that time until his final stage at a Naples Airport in January of 1962. Ironically, he was on his way to meet with a film and television producer who was going to stag a movie about his life as an infamous pigboat/villain of the 20th century. In my opinion, Lucky Luciano is certainly more than a footnote of history, but he and the mafia are definitely not proud examples of a morally acceptable counterculture lifestyle.Works CitedEditors, Biography.com. The biography.com website. 15 June 2015. 9 march 2017.Gambetta, D. The Sicilian Mafia. 1993. Harvard University Press.Jrank, law. law.jrank.org. 2015. 10 march 2017.Reppetto, T. American Mafia A History of Its Rise to Power. Kindle.Staff, history.com. history.com. 2009. 9 march 2017.Thomas, W. LaVerne. Cultural Diversity. Holt, Rinehart, Winston. Holt Sociology The study of humane Relationships. Austin A Harcourt Education Company , 2003. 39.