5 ms·
I believe Mafia is actually a combination of Arabic and Siciliano “A less romantic and more likely derivation of the name Mafia is a combined Sicilian-Arabic s
by misiti3780 7y ago
I believe Mafia is actually a combination of Arabic and Siciliano
“A less romantic and more likely derivation of the name Mafia is a combined Sicilian-Arabic slang expression that means acting as a protector against the arrogance of the powerful. Until the nineteenth century, the appellation mafioso, a Mafia member, had wide currency in Sicily as a noncriminal, resolute man with congenital distrust of centralized authority.”
Excerpt From: Selwyn Raab. “Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America’s Mast Powerful Mafia Empires.” Apple Books.
- Mirioron 7y agoSo, they were anarchists?
- mdrzn 7y agoWere and mostly still are, except now they're the one making the rules. They became the very same thing they were getting away from.
- ninju 7y agoYou mean dictators then (no rules except for the ones we want you to follow :-))
- danans 7y agoI've heard the opposite - that the Mafia formed to take advantage of a period when there was a vacuum of central authority in Italy and therefore little security for common folks. The mafia served as the protectors - and if not paid, harassers - of the people in this situation.
- beerandt 7y agoPretty much any government does the same- try not paying your taxes. Harassment will follow.
- mwfunk 7y agoIf you think that's crazy, try stealing a car or assaulting someone! Those darned government oppressors, always keeping us down with their taxes and laws and stuff. Who do they think they are anyway, the government?!?
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- beerandt 7y agoIt's payment for justice. We just call it taxes and police. They call it tribute and protection, or something else. The same basic functions are being fulfilled in different ways.
- danans 7y agoI agree that they share many characteristics and objectives, derived ultimately from certain realities of the ways humans operate. But I do contend that the better forms of government that are less mafia-like. Obviously absolute monarchies and dictatorships aren't among them.
- paulddraper 7y agoIt's like they're the mafia or something.
- danans 7y agoJust because governments and mafias share that one characteristic doesn't mean they are the same. There is a whole lot more that governments provide to a society than collecting taxes. Businesses also collect revenue, and if you don't pay them, harassment will also ensue, which you'd know if you've ever forgotten a payment and had a file sent to a collection agency, and ultimately to a civil court which is paid for by ... government. But that doesn't mean businesses are like mafias. What distinguishes organized crime syndicates from governments and businesses is everything about them apart from "pay or be harassed" part, including but not limited to: the family-based structure and power inheritance model, the use of localized violence as coercion to payment (vs in exchange for services provided), and the lack of any transparent system of justice. Some governments (i.e. Saudi, North Korea) undoubtedly have more of those characteristics, but that doesn't mean that most governments are equivalent to organized crime syndicates.
- coliveira 7y agoA similar thing is happening right now in Brazil. Ex-policemen are forming militias that supposedly "protect" the population in cities like Rio. If you don't pay them, you may very well be the target of "bad people".
- vbezhenar 7y agoIf you don't pay money to your government, you'll be punished. It's not really different.
- coliveira 7y agoEverything the government does has to go through the justice system. Thugs will kill you without warning. This is very different.
- philwelch 7y agoSome governments will kill you without warning, either. I think the point to be making isn't that mafias are fundamentally different from government, they're just worse in almost every conceivable way.
- golergka 7y agoThere's plenty of mafia-like organizations with their own equivalent of justice system, and plenty of warnings before they decide to go with the ultimate option.
- coliveira 7y agoIt was exactly this ill-conceived mentality that "mafia and government are the same" that brought mafia-style militias to Rio. I can almost imagine criminals laughing of this kind of idea.
- reading-at-work 7y agoYup. When the State wouldn't help communities who needed protection, the Mafia families stepped in to serve that purpose. Of course, that's not to lionize them, but it explains why and how they came to power.
- int_19h 7y agoThis is pretty common in general. Taliban started in a very similar way - their first public act as an organized movement was trial and execution a local warlord who raped children from a nearby village.
- eecc 7y agoMore like warlords or tribal leaders acting in the vacuum of authority