
On the global survival of mafias - benbreen
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/mafias-godfather-misha-glenny/
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woodandsteel
From the article:

"In his opening chapter, “Birth”, Varese compares the initiation rituals that
are common to almost every mafia organization. He draws from interviews,
autobiographies and police wiretap transcripts in which the gangsters do most
of the talking. It is remarkable how close in style, substance and imagery the
initiation ceremonies are across cultures – the religious symbolism, the use
of tattoos, the omertà, the misogyny and sealing of membership through blood
are present among the Yakuza of Japan, the Russian mafia, the Chinese triads
and the Sicilian Mafia."

It seems to me mafias are basically tribal societies. That is not surprising
as human psychology is basically designed for tribal existence. With complex
civilized societies, humans are expected to integrate into something much
larger than a simple tribe. However, civilizations often have spaces in which
tribes can start up and survive, such as cults and criminal mafias.

~~~
solidsnack9000
One striking feature is the depth of trust in these organisations. Many of
them function without written records for all or most matters of importance.

~~~
kartan
> depth of trust

I guess that it's more about the big boss is always right.

Written records are needed for a fair observance of contracts. With no
fairness, contracts are useless because one side can change them without
consecuences.

"I'm altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further." Darth Vader.

~~~
solidsnack9000
Maybe everyone keeps in mind what the boss wants and that aligns incentives
even for smaller things?

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kmnc
The article doesn't really go into what mafias are actually doing to stay
alive. What cyber crimes are the mafias in control of? Are any large "cyber
gangs" not connected to local mafias?

I have always loved the fantasy of the mafia just from a job advancement and
loyalty point of view. You start at the bottom, get rewarded for hard work and
being intelligent and eventually get "made". Then you have power,
unconditional respect, and life long guarantees of a job, security, and
family. Getting "made" should be a real thing in the corporate world.

~~~
arca_vorago
The smartest of them saw the writing on the wall and used their I'll gotten
gains to go mostly legit, investing heavily in high money throughput
businesses such as Hollywood, casinos, banking, the legal field, insurance,
etc.

Bonus: The mafia that even the mafia is afraid of that you've probably never
heard of? The Jewish mafia.

~~~
sek
This is antisemitic bullshit. While there has been a small jewish mafia in NY
they where a „regular mafia“ like the italian mafia.

Most of them were and are legit and the affinity just coming from jewish
immigrants having a history in those fields living in europe. Not for money
laundering what you implied. They are very well connected and help each other.

~~~
arca_vorago
People who immediately accuse others of antisemitism at any mention of Israel
or the Jewish religion are not interested in any kind of intellectually honest
discussion.

~~~
sek
How you were describing Jews in all those industries is a clear case of
antisemitic canard.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitic_canard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitic_canard)

They are apparently so powerful they are the "Mafia of the Mafia", no sources
just that they are "The Jewish Mafia". Are there Jewish mafiosi? Sure, like a
lot of other nationalities and ethnic groups, but I doubt any mafiosi will see
them as above them as the "puppet masters of international crime".

You call this intellectually honest?

~~~
arca_vorago
>How you were describing Jews in all those industries is a clear case of
antisemitic canard.

A strawman attack. I was speaking of mafia in general in the first sentence.

>They are apparently so powerful they are the "Mafia of the Mafia"

Putting words in my mouth I never said, another strawman. There is a
difference between saying they are the "mafia of the mafia" and saying they
are a part of the mafia that even other mafia are afraid of.

>"puppet masters of international crime"

Far too simplistic a summarization of this much more nuanced and complex
subject.

>You call this intellectually honest?

Yep, unlike your two comments.

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frabbit
Coincidentally just came across this interesting list of noir produced by
blacklisted US writers: [https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/01/17/force-of-
evil-abraha...](https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/01/17/force-of-evil-abraham-
polonsky-and-anti-capitalist-noir/)

------
nerdponx
Maybe I missed it in this article, but does the book talk about the accuracy
(or lack thereof) of popular Mafia depictions, like in The Godfather? If they
are accurate, where did their authors get their iformation? I'm aware that the
author of the original _The Godfather_ novel was Italian, but I don't know
more about him beyond that.

~~~
staunch
It's basically all real and fairly accurately portrayed by movies from what I
can tell.

There are "The Goodfella Tapes" but here's a random JFK doc that has informant
info:

[https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/docid-3...](https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/docid-32307931.pdf)

