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| What defines us | Started by: -SalvatoreLicata- on Feb 17, '08 17:55 |
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It was a cold night, I was walking along the streets to head home after some deals with local drug dealers. It's been a hard day, was looking forward to get some rest. As I came home I poured myself a whiskey and sat down besides the radio to listen to some music. The life of crime is pretty hard, I thought myself. As I was sitting there and relax the phone began to ring. "Sal, Sal Licata?" - The man on phone asked "Yes, whos there? - I ask "I've a good friend of your father, may he rest in peace. I heared you joined his old lifestyle and became an soldati for one of the families. Let's meet at a bar and have a talk, I'm in the city for some days." "Sure, I'll be there." - I hung up, not sure why I said yes to that... I walked into the bar we said we would meet, I looked around and saw the man, it was a very respected man, earned his bones already. I went over to him and introduced myself. "Sit down kid." - The man said and offers me a seat at his table "You know kid, it's always a good thing to have someone who cares. Your father has been a great friend of mine and as he can't be here I thought I'll look at you. How you doing?" During the next few days we met often to talk a little bit, about business, respect and omerta. The life of a mafioso. It's been very interesting and I enjoyed the lessons of an expereinced man. At the last day, just before he was about to leave to get his plane he asked me one thing - a lesson in my eyes. "You know kid, the most important thing is to know what defines you as a mafioso, you always have to be sure about that. So think about it..." When I arrived back home this question always came up back into my mind, what defines me as a mafioso? Tricky question and so important." ------------------------------------ How would I defne a mafioso? Very though question, in my eyes. First and foremost respect, not just for their friends or his own family, no, respect to everyone wether you like it or not. In my eyes respect shouldn't be affected by personal feelings. Second, honor. Honor is to stand up for what you believe in. Stand up for your mistakes and take the consequences. Honor is to treat other people with respect. Third, dedication to the family, to the life as mafioso. Also if it's sometimes a hard thing to do, for example you stuck in a family you don't like you still should be part of it at heart. These are the basics for a mafioso for me. I would like to know what defines you as a mafioso or how would you define a mafioso. |
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What defines me is my witty repartee. True story. |
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| Reply by: Janelon at Feb 17, '08 18:01 | |
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I have a follow-up question. Who cares? Sorry to be so blunt but it's very rare that I actually bother to take part in discussions at all, mainly because I find most of them formulaic and frankly, boring. I also think there are some fundamentally flawed beliefs concerning the Mafia lifestyle and role and I believe I'm seeing some of them rolled out right here. You are talking about the honoured society as if it is a college fraternity or some sort of gentle old boy network. At some point we accept the fact that we are murdering bastards who lead a life of crime and do so on the basis of the fact that we were an immigrant people to the US and that's how they do things back home in Sicily, a region that has always been distrustful of authority. Whether we actually swallow this explanation in whole or not is irrelevant, especially if it drowns out the screams of our victims at night. When you start talking about standing up for what you believe in, I really wonder if you know what you are talking about, seeing a show standing up for what you believe in has absolutely no relevance to the Mafia. |
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| Reply by: Sledge-Hammer at Feb 17, '08 18:12 | |
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| We are bad people. Quit making us look like we are good. We aren't. Bad people we are. | |
| Reply by: C1nd3rella at Feb 17, '08 18:14 | |
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I have to disagree with you here sir, we are not all murdering bastards. Some of us can go our entire lifetime without taking a life. Some of us are more involved in the other aspects of the criminal organizations we are members of. Some us find other things to occupy our time than seeking that almighty wackgasm or even the multiple wackgasm. You may think that the Mafia is all about murder, personally I think it's about business and politics. |
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| Reply by: Serafina_Pekkala at Feb 17, '08 18:52 | |
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Gonna have to agree with Ms. Pekkala on this one. Momma always told me that the Mafia controlled by violence at times, but most of the time it was the inherent THREAT of violence. They didn't have to take lives constantly; it was the thought that they could take you out, destroy your business, kill your family and friends and there wasn't a thing you could do about it. If you 'kill em all', who's gonna man the grocery stores? Can you see one of the big bosses tying on a grocer's apron and working a till? I certainly can't. You'll always get more money out of fear and terror than out of killing them...why kill the goose laying the golden eggs when you can scare the shit out of it to get it to lay MORE eggs? |
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| Reply by: Margaret_Dobson at Feb 17, '08 19:07 | |
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Well Mr. Hammer, in my opinion it has a relevance to the mafia to stand up what you believe in. With that I mean if you don't like how things are going on around here then you should stand up and do something against it or try to change something, not just to sit there and wait for the changes. I would do that, I say that and I would try to change that. Of course it's not always easy or even it might look like an impossible thing but that's not a reason for me leave it this way. I think everyone can change something wether he/she is a civilian or a Don, of course the influence is bigger with a higher level of respect, but this shouldn't stop someone from trying. And then I also have to agree with Ms. Pekkala, at first we're businessmen. Setting up businesses and live through connections. Speaking trhough a gun is not a big deal, everyone could do that. But gaining influnce throughout business and connections is a much more respectable way in my eyes but also a harder way. To be part of the 'mafia' doesn't mean we're killers, of course we're taking lives but that should only be if there's no other way. To protect higher rules or the community or your own people. Leaders shouldn't be feared, they should be there for the people, to help out poor people with their experience and advice. They should make improvments to the whole world, come up with new ideas to make the world a safer place for us, to protect us from threats. Of course everybody want to be on top and I think if you're doing a good job you'll be there, no matter what, but you have to decide what kind of leader you'll be. |
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| Reply by: -SalvatoreLicata- at Feb 18, '08 04:26 | |
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Leaders shouldn't be feared, they should be there for the people, to help out poor people with their experience and advice. They should make improvments to the whole world, come up with new ideas to make the world a safer place for us, to protect us from threats. That's not the first thing I think of when Al Capone comes to mind. I think you are confusing Mob Boss with Social Worker Humanitarian. Sings Kumbaya |
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| Reply by: Panic at Feb 18, '08 04:52 | |
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| I don't confuse this Mr. Panic, Al Capone was a Gangster, something different in my opinion. What I was talking about was how it was back in old days when the people came to a Don if they needed help or an advice. That's what I meant, the Dons should always have an open ear for the concerns of the people as they are their leaders, if someone reigns by fear this won't happen. | |
| Reply by: -SalvatoreLicata- at Feb 18, '08 05:13 | |
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| Al Capone done both he was a humanitarian he open soup lines and hundreds of jobs and for that the people both loved him and RESPECTED him | |
| Reply by: Tops at Feb 18, '08 07:14 | |
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| The Captain's in it for the fame, the money, and the women. Yea...that's about it. | |
| Reply by: TheCaptain at Feb 18, '08 12:38 | |
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Well ladies and gents, I'm respectfully going to have to disagree right back about the Mafia not all being murdering bastards. In fact I'm going to have to ask outright: what are you people talking about? A prerequisite of being a man of Honour is that you have "made your bones." The principle organising factor behind the entire society is having men who are willing to kill when ordered. You might work as an associate to the Mafia all your life and never kill someone, but as a Man of Honour, you don't get into the society without first performing a murder. What little of the Sicilian Mafia that was documented was very clear in this respect. There is no such thing as being a businessman first, for if this was all about business and business alone, you'd be a Freemason. You'd resort to economics and collective bargaining and restricting competition and other such borderline illegal market policies to put bread on the table. Trying to distinguish politics from violence in this business shows a fundamental lack of understanding for this thing of ours. We are no Parliamentarians, whether we are right or wrong or have the best argument is entirely irrelevant if we cannot eliminate opposing factions. Murder, actual or threatened, is the organising force behind our work and it is entirely reasonable to label the Mafia murdering bastards. Without murder, you cannot engage in the politics of our business. Just because your own personal opinion chooses not to see it this way does not mean your opinions hold any weight. I fear you have made the mistake of holding me to be advocating the skill of violence over all others, rather than taking my statement as a fact of the organisation. Salvatore your comments on Dons of the old way show a serious lack of understanding. It was not a case of either/or as far as their community went. Their community supported them because communities support all men of power in one form of another and curry their favour. The idea of people speaking to the old Don and courting his favour in this matter or that, without fear is simply not how it was. The Mafia is one big organisation with factions continually vying for power within this organisation. They won the power first, often bestowing their benevolence along the way to cement their position. To assume that the image of an old man doing favours must mean that fear is not a factor in his rule, is to hold that old man very cheaply indeed. |
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| Reply by: Sledge-Hammer at Feb 18, '08 17:52 | |
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I won't get into the debate as it currently stands, as I do not think you are all entirely crossed-purposes. Alexander the Great used both the stick and the carrot, and so will a succesful mafioso. I will, however, detail certain rules I live by, as I think these have stood me in better staid than philosophical mores. 1) All members of the Hammer family are loyal to the family unto death. This means, if you kill me, then my son is free to choose another family, but if you kill my Don, then I will avenge him or die trying. 2) Grudges never pass to the next generation. If you killed my father, or my father's Don, so be it. I am not them, and will forge my own destiny. 3) I will honour you for you, not who your father was. 4) I will always seek to help others who are unconnected to the families, as it is good for business to have those indebted to you. The most loyal followers are usually those who have no blood-ties to other families. However, if someone without the protection of a family bites the hand that is attempting to feed, I shall respond in kind. 5) I will always support my family publically, and if this means supporting a viewpoint I do not agree with, I will do so. If the Don wants my advice, I will have earned it, and he will ask... I won't waste his time offering. I will never tell anyone outside the family what I am thinking. |
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| Reply by: _The_Hammer_ at Feb 18, '08 19:19 | |
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hmmm in my opinion Hammer you appear a bit antisocial or untrusting, no really sure though, maybe you are a bit crazy in your own way, but your views are far different from most and truthfully I respect that. G'day to you sir. AC |
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| Reply by: Anti_Christ at Feb 19, '08 20:06 | |
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Glad to hear it AC. I'd say I'm definitely anti-social. When you hear one speech, you often hear them all. Truth is I respect something that is different when the timing is right, but I also feel really strongly on this issue. It's a hard line to walk, disagree with the person without stepping on their toes. Maybe I pull if off, who knows? Truth is I only ever seem to see things worth listening towhen the insults are flying in the dying embers of war... Maybe that is as it should be and everything else is just filler until we reach that point... Guess it's subjective. |
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| Reply by: Sledge-Hammer at Feb 19, '08 20:10 | |
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