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Saturday, November 21, 2009

Why the Mafia can't be defeated in Sicily? (part 2)

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Removing those misfit kids from the Mafia's claws before they'll become adults and from there callous criminals, shouldn't be that hard to do it. By simply giving some possibilities for better futures to them and their parents, these kids will become productive and responsible adults to a modern society. Of course all this will be only possible if, the Italian national institutions will set a policy from preventing those kids in becoming the next, "Mafiosi".



From what I could see, there were two main culprits to be called in cause: the first culprit as I said is, the Italian State not doing much (besides the detecting/policing, prosecution and jailing works on affiliated of the Mafia) on the prevention. I don't believe in the effectiveness of a zero tolerance policy the same ways it was applied (more likely it was imposed) on the New Jersey and New York's populations, for safer and cleaner neighborhoods! That kind of policy isn't going to work in the Sicilian Society, but only steer social unrest.

Giving jobs to those low income family living in run-down neighborhoods is, of course, a first line to fight criminality perpetrated by minors. Those same neighborhoods should be cared more from the Italian government, to prevent the Mafia of using them as a reservoir to resupply its troops. Moreover, new resources should be spent in those neighborhoods, like social workers taking care of low ambient families by helping them arise to high standards of living. Those same social workers should in the same time, enforce the kids' parents to send their children to attend schools and do follow up their progress during their growing up.




Police patrolling on foot those streets should be a norm, especially in very difficult neighborhoods, to prevent the criminality of infiltrating them. Parks should also be created in those neighborhoods, to give to the people that are living in them a sense of communities. As well, garbages should be collected regularly, streets, schools and any other social infrastructures should be well maintained in those same neighborhoods, to not give a false impression to those people that the Italian national government doesn't really care much about them.

The second culprit is: in the Sicilian culture there are many things that should be thrown out! In the Sicilian culture is indeed occulted, a certain mentality of mafiositi. For example: in Sicilian dialect there are some words like mafiosetto/mafiosetta (youngsters, acting in mafioso's ways) not seen and used in derogatory terms by a part of the Sicilian population but as some form of rewarding badges for an ill-mannered youngster. People looking to circumnavigate (as I mentioned in a previous post, see: Fighting the Mafia-Incorrect conceptions and bad attitudes from the Sicilians people) the normal difficulties of the day to day life, by applying unorthodox methods to beat the system by form of cheats such as l'arte di arranggiarsi (the art of getting by) by asking favors to the wrong people.




They see politicians stealing and cheating on regular basis, or when seeing the employers not paying the taxes or not paying themselves the appropriate salaries. An other of unethical behaviors is when they are seeing someone to pay the, "bustarella" (little envelopes containing cash which is used to bribe someone in getting in return a big favor). Unfortunately, to a portion of the Sicilian population such occurrences are seen as a normalcies, and when they can they'll apply the same methods.

All the above statements are not helping much in fighting the Mafia at the present time, but helping the Mafia in its own survival. Until the culprits which I have mentioned in this current post are not defeated, the Mafia too won't be defeated! I must point out that in the Sicilian past somehow, must have been an hidden agenda from some political puppeteers which were acting in the shadows to keep the Sicilian's status-quo unchanged for personal gains.

"The Mafia is oppression, arrogance, greed, self-enrichment, power and hegemony above and against all others. It is not an abstract concept, or a state of mind, or a literary term... It is a criminal organization regulated by unwritten but iron and inexorable rules... The myth of a courageous and generous 'man of honor' must be destroyed, because a mafioso is just the opposite."



-- Cesare Terranova, Italian Magistrate murdered in 1979


Nowadays things are looking a bit different for Sicily and maybe, maybe, there is finally some hopes for the honest, working Sicilian families.
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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Mafia, Coppole, and Lupare. (part I)

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Mafia




What a trio of words! These words sound like they belong to a Mafia's movie title, or a Mafia's book tittle. What these words mean, or meant for the common Sicilian citizens at one time! Mafia not needs for its explanation, already we all know what Mafia means, it means an oriented family crime organization.

What about those other words?

Coppola (a traditional flat cap worn by men in Southern Italy and Sicily) wasn't just a common piece of vestiary for the ordinary Sicilian, but for a "Mafiusu" in particular, it meant something more than a simple hat... It had also, an occult meaning along the ordinary use of it.


The coppola, especially when this piece of vestiary was worn by twisting it to one side of the head, gave to those wearing it a status of respect, power, and belongings to a privileged caste. That twisted hat meant, the Mafiusu' was part of a Mafia clan organization.

When I was very young (before I came to live and work in the States), back on those days I recall how was viewed by the Sicilian those men wearing the
twisted hats. Those men were seen with fear, and therefore those so called men of honor got respect from the rest of the Sicilian communities not because of their good deeds, but the intimidation of their "persona".

Indeed those men, were (and are) the scums of the Sicilian societies, and unfortunately stereotypes of the Sicilians been seen as all "mafiusi" together with the saying, " Nenti sacciu, nenti vitti, nenti 'ntisi " (I don't know nothing, I didn't see anything, I didn't hear anything) has since stuck all over them as a blemish, especially
if they went for jobs in the North of Italy.


I don't hear, I don't see, I don't talk.
Uomini di panza "Men of honor".

The "Nenti sacciu, nenti vitti, nenti 'ntisi" saying, it's associated with the code of silence (also known as omerta'). The omerta' (a refusal to give evidences and to cooperate with the police about criminal activities) is practiced by the Mafia itself (naturally) and by the common citizens for fears of the Mafia's retaliations. The men that make use of this code of silence are named, "uomini di panza" (men with big stomach). The term "uomini di panza" means that these men have enough stomach to keep Mafia's secrets inside, without revealing them to the police. Be a "uomo di panza" (man with a big stomach) in the same time means: to be an honorable man. I hope, you are now getting how distorted and wicked are the Mafia's rules, for being a (not) honorable man.

Luckily today, in Sicily many things have changed. If you go there for a visit, you wont see anymore those, "coppole" (except in very few small towns, with very few old men), and those men of honor will get less respect from the people, than back the old days of the coppolas.

Finally, the word lupara what it means?


Lupara means: violent death to those who dared to challenge the Mafia laws. The "lupara" was a sawed-off shotgun used particularly for the Mafia's vendettas. The word 'lupara' means literally 'wolf-shot', reflecting its lethal power and its history of use in Mafia killings. Another expression of the lupara is -the lupara bianca (white lupara)- a term which was, and it is still used, after someone has been murdered by the Mafia, and his body can't be found anywhere.

continues...

Next: Mafia, Coppole, and Lupare. (part II) Mafia's war.


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