WEBVTT - How the Mafia Works 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.840 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:07.560 It's ready. Are you welcome to stuff you should know 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:20.680 from house Stuff Works dot com and welcome to the podcast. 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:25.720 I'm Josh Minnesota, Fats Clark, There's Chuck, Butterface Bryant. Where's 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:29.080 a couple of goons ready to break your thumbs on Butterface. 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:34.600 I'm actually the opposite of butter Face. I'm a butter body. 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:38.920 Those are what I came up with. That's good, Okay, 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:40.839 you get the papers. Get the papers. This one is 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:44.720 going to be lousy. With Chuck's Italian impressive. I want 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:49.040 to go ahead and um apologize to the Italian American 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:52.440 Anti Defamation League. Actually that is a serious c o A. 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:54.920 I wanted to say because a lot of Italian Americans 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:59.800 get upset about things like the Sopranos being portrayed as 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:03.280 game bixters. We're not saying all Italian Americans and gangsters, 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:05.200 but we're gonna talk about the mafia. It's a real thing, 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:09.040 and specifically we're gonna when you say the mafia, even 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:12.320 though it's used in all these different ways, right, it's 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:20.360 it's specific to Italian organized crime groups or Sicilian. Yeah, well, 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:23.800 Sicily is a part of Italy. Yeah, sort of, that's Sicilians, 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:26.399 and they probably would say not so much. Well, under 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:30.920 modern geopolitics, it's a part of Italy, right, I just 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:32.880 wouldn't say that in Sicily. Well, if you want to 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:37.640 talk about the mafia, even even broadly, the Sicilian mafia 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:42.360 is part of five total right. Yes, Oh we got 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:45.560 going already, did you know? Yeah? I was like, wow, 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:48.920 that's set up here. We are you? I mean, should 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:50.240 we name those or you just want to get to 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:52.960 those at the appropriate time? Did I throw you off? No? 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:58.880 I'll name him right now. Sicilian Mafia, the Camorra Mafia 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:04.560 from nap the Calabrian mafia from Calabria, right, Uh, the 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:11.200 Sacra Corona, Yunita or Unita, they're recent, they are based 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:16.520 in the Puglia region region. He's getting out of hand already. 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:20.520 And look also Nostra, which is uh, that's a good 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:24.360 place to start, yeah, because that's what's been come to 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:28.320 be called the American mafia. That is exactly right, Chuck. 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:30.359 And that's our first bit of jargon we should cover. 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:35.000 I think it is grammatically incorrect. It is you know, uh, 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:39.639 cosin nostra means our way, right, Yeah, possibly our thing. Yeah, 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:43.880 the FBI and I think the sixties were wire tapping, um, 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:49.120 the American mafia. They mentioned cosin nostra and um the 0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:52.880 FBI came to use that as the term for the 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:57.200 Italian mafia, adding law so it means the r way. 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:02.000 I came up with the Italian mafia in the United States. 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:06.120 But it's stuck, right when the FBI labels you, that 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:10.840 label sticks and black. Cosa nostra, like you said, describes 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:13.720 the American mafia, which is one of the five Italian 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:17.760 mafia groups in the world. Today. I got a friend 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:20.680 named Blastfeld. We call him Blass, and I call him 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:26.400 La Blasa nostra. It's a good nickname, I think. Uh, 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:28.920 there's some other terms we're gonna throw about here. Uh, 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:33.920 the Almerta. I did look up how to pronounce some 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:37.520 of these. Actually, the Almerta is the code of silence, really, 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:40.880 that's how you pronounce it. Yeah, tah is the and 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:46.200 fascists on top. A made man is someone who is been, 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:51.080 you know, inducted into the mafia family. A capo originally 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:53.040 was the head of the family in Sicily, but now 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:57.160 there are lieutenants in the mafia. Then the family, of 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:00.000 course is the gang within the mafia, like the family 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:04.440 is uh, each individual gang, and then of course the 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:07.360 wise guys. Let's let's break down the hierarchy. Right, we're 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:11.240 talking family is a gang within the mafia, and there 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:14.440 can be usually say anywhere from ten to a hundred, 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:18.880 which strikes me as an incredibly arbitrary number. But there 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:22.880 are different families within the mafia. And if you're talking 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:26.239 about the Sicilian mafia, there's there's a lot of families. 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:29.839 There a lot of families in the US, right, um, 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:33.160 and beneath the in the hierarchy, beneath the family, each 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:37.760 families is headed by a boss, right don a don 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:42.800 or boss. Then you've got the underboss, possibly more than one, 0:04:42.800 --> 0:04:46.400 but usually just one. Uh. The boss is right hand man. Yes, 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:51.599 Sometimes underboss makes his own decisions based on the you know, 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:54.640 the family way. Sometimes the underboss will go to the 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:58.880 boss say what should I do? Boss? Then travel down 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:01.799 to the lieutenants and let the now and you know, Chuck. 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:05.039 As I was reading this and reading about the structure 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:08.880 of the mafia organization, it occurred to me that like 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:16.200 a lot of this mirrors management and organizational styles found incorporations. 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:18.279 That's why they call it organized crime. It is it 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:20.440 is very much like Okay, so you have a boss 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.760 who's real hands on, the underboss is going to probably 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:29.720 not be very uh not be empowered, just like right 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:32.200 if if you have a hands on manager, the supervisor 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:34.400 right below him is not going to have a lot 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:38.240 of power authority, right, Okay, Well let's just keep going. 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:42.440 The copos are beneath the underboss. They're like lieutenants, lieutenants, 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:46.400 and they will either control a part of the family 0:05:46.600 --> 0:05:50.279 or maybe a geographical area, or maybe they run a 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:55.839 certain racket only like I just deal in uh, prostitution, prostitution, 0:05:55.920 --> 0:06:00.920 illegal gambling, legal gambling, right, or it could be like um, 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:05.760 Tony owns you know, everything west of eleventh Street. Right. 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:09.560 So that's how the the capo um, that's how the 0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:13.920 capo h is a cappo really hats off to you, 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:19.200 capo off to you at the pronunciation. But that's how 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:22.600 the the what is it the capo is defined? Right? 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:27.880 And I thought about this too, and good fellas, PAULI, 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:32.640 as you know, big and important as he seemed, was 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:35.520 just a capo, was he? He went in an under Boston. 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:37.520 I don't think so. Who was a big daddy in 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:40.920 that movie? They never showed because think about it, like 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:47.320 Henry hill Um or what is his name, Leiota Hendry, Yeah, 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:51.560 and Jimmy and all they were really just soldiers, yeah, 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:54.840 well made. And Hendry couldn't be made because remember he 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:57.480 couldn't trace his bloodline back to the old country, right, 0:06:57.520 --> 0:07:00.280 so he would have been an associate. Yeah, but Joe 0:07:00.279 --> 0:07:04.800 Pesci was made. No, he wasn't. No, remember what happened 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:06.840 to him when he went to go get made. Well 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:10.560 he was, he was set to be made because his 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:15.400 bloodline was was correct. Yeah, okay, that's so. Beneath the Coppos, right, 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:20.280 are soldiers and they're the lowest rank and file, lowest 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:23.760 level rank and file members of the mafia, but they 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:26.920 are members. They have been inducted into the family, young 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:29.480 guys who are are probably trying to make their way 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:33.360 up to at least Cappo. And then you've got associates, 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:38.160 which are anybody from an investment banker, an accountant, the 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:42.080 accountant in Untouchables, he would have been an associate to, 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:45.200 like somebody who work with who's good at safe cracking 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:48.800 or hijacking or dealing drug, dirty cop, somebody who works 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:51.480 with the mob, but I remember the family. That's an 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:55.280 associate and Josh, then there's one more very important part 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:57.880 of the mafia family. Yeah. And there's a couple of 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:03.480 ways to pronounce this, the Conciliada, I like the the 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:08.440 hard g Consigliati. Yeah, and that is If anyone's ever 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:11.120 seen the movie Godfather, which you should, um obviously, Robert 0:08:11.200 --> 0:08:14.360 Duval is Tom Hagen. If you haven't seen The Godfather, 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:18.920 press Paul Is on this podcast, rent or buy it. Well, 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:21.200 we'll go buy one and two. Yeah, you need to 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:24.120 see both of those. Uh, and and then come back 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:26.840 to this. And actually, while you're at it, go watch 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:32.880 Good Fellows as well and Casino and um Apocalypse. Now. So, 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:35.880 Robert Duval played Tom Hagen, who is the council YadA 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:39.600 and the Godfather, And the key here is that they're 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:42.040 not a part of the family's hierarchy. They're not an 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:46.040 actual family member, not supposed to be. Yeah, because they're 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:49.719 supposed to offer outside advice their advisors. They're supposed to 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:54.319 rule on fairness rather than Vendetta's personal feelings, that kind 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:56.840 of thing. They're elected they're not appointed. Yeah, did you 0:08:56.880 --> 0:08:59.839 know that. Well, that's ideally how it goes. So I 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:05.120 really all of the soldiers, the copos, the the under boss, 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:07.720 the boss, all these people, I guess probably not the boss, 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:13.480 but UM elect this guy to basically say, I'm going 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:17.480 to serve as the tiebreaker the referee probably obviously a 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:21.120 very trusted, wise person. But the problem is most of 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:23.920 the time they're just appointed by the boss. Well, yeah, 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:25.760 that's what it says. In reality, a lot of times 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:28.079 they are appointed, they're not always impartial like they're supposed 0:09:28.120 --> 0:09:31.560 to be. That's the real world mafia, not Tom Hagen 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:34.120 in the movies. And Duval was a great consulada. He 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:36.800 was excellent. He's just a class act. He is all 0:09:36.840 --> 0:09:40.960 the way around. Um, there's no head of the mafia. 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:45.480 It is not a group, a single organization. It's not 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:48.800 like that. It depends. What do you mean. Are you 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:53.400 talking about the American mafia, the Sicilian mafia. Well, we're 0:09:53.400 --> 0:09:56.920 talking to as a whole, largely about last So if 0:09:56.920 --> 0:10:00.280 we're talking about Lakosa Nostra, there have been times when 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:04.400 there were basically ahead of the mafia before I think 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:08.040 the thirties, before the five families of New York were 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:12.240 really established and defined. There were people who were really 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:14.720 running the show or trying to run the show in 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:17.680 the country for the whole thing. Yeah, but for the 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:21.199 most part, you're absolutely right. It's there's nobody running the head. 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:23.760 There's a commission. I guess you could say, is the 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:25.480 head of the mafia. Right. Yeah, we'll get to the 0:10:25.520 --> 0:10:28.240 commission in a minute. That's good stuff. When it comes 0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:31.000 to naming the families, it's not a clear cut thing. 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:34.120 Sometimes it was the region. Uh. In the case of 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:39.800 New York, the main families were kind of accidentally named 0:10:40.200 --> 0:10:45.400 in the Senate subcommittee testimony of A. Joe Alacchi in 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:48.400 nine sixty three. So once you say it in a 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:50.640 subcommittee meeting and then all of a sudden, it's sort 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:53.800 of the family names kind of stuck. And those names, Josh, 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:57.080 you want to go for those? Uh? Yeah, there were 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:03.160 the Banana, Jenna, Vasi, Gambino, Luches, and Profacci, very good 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:06.400 and some of those have been around before that. Um. 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:12.840 I believe the Bonano family was around for well since 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:17.960 the thirties, right, the um Profacci was around as well. Uh. 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:21.880 The gene Vase was relatively new oh, I'm sorry. In 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:28.000 the thirties it was Scalazi, Profacci, Luciano, Gagliano, and Banano. Okay, 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:30.840 and then in the sixties when Joe Volacci named him, 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:33.880 that was what they were named as they were named 0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:37.360 after the most powerful bosses for their current bosses. Well yeah, 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:40.320 and and sometimes the family name would be transplanted if 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:43.480 they were taken over, like it almost happened with the 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:47.199 Gambinos and John Gotti took over the Gambino family. They 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:51.400 were very close to being called the Gotti family. But Gotti, 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:55.199 as everyone knows, was arrested for racketeering thanks to Sammy 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:58.360 the Bulgravano, and he's still behind bars today, so it 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.600 never became the Gotti family. No, the Profacci family did 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:05.760 become the Colombo crime family. So it does happen. There 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:08.679 are changes, that's right, But like we said, no hard 0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:12.160 infest rules. That's that's the five families of New York 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:14.880 and those are the ones. They are most prominent. You 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:18.040 don't hear about the Buffalo family or the San Francisco 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:21.959 family or the Cleveland family, but these families exist. Uh. 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:25.360 Most of the time. They're named after the city that 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:27.880 they're running. Yeah, except in New York because so there 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:29.880 were just too many of them. Yeah, you couldn't call 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:31.560 the New York family because all five of them would 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:33.480 be like, oh what about the meat? It does happen 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:36.520 elsewhere though, Like there's the Patriarch crime family they run 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:40.319 New England apparently. Yeah. Nice, Well I'll talk about them 0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:44.040 in a second. Right, where are we What which we 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:47.080 hit next? There's so much goodness in here. Well, let's 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:49.520 just go with the flow. How do you become a 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:53.120 member of the mafia. Let's say you're a um, you're 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:56.920 a low level safe cracker. Right, they'd be exciting, right, 0:12:57.080 --> 0:12:59.320 but h and you've really proven your work. You've made 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:00.880 a lot of money. You're like, look, I want to 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:03.160 move on up. I like safe cracking, but I also 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:08.040 want to run numbers and horses and kids exactly. Um, 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:10.920 I want to become a member of the family. I 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:14.120 am Italian. I got to prove that my father at 0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:16.240 least as Italian. Yeah. Most most of the time, it's 0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:18.240 got to be both, but sometimes you can slip by it. 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:20.800 Just the old man is Italian, which is what kept 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:24.160 Henry Hill out of mafia because his father was Irish. 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:28.439 That's right, Um, I want to be inducted. What happens 0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:32.440 well at an induction ceremony? It was really like most 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:35.600 induction ceremonies were pretty quiet and secret for a long time. 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:39.559 But as we said, Joe Valachi's testimony in the sixties 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:41.880 kind of blew the lid on a lot of this 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:45.559 stuff and this was one of them. Uh, what happens 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:47.839 is you sit down at at a table, you get 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:50.240 you're told to get dressed up or get dressed taken 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:52.160 to a private place. At your long table, you sit 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:55.320 next to the boss other mafio, so guys are gonna 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:58.959 be there, recite some oaths, promises of loyalty. Then you've 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:01.400 got to burn a piece of pay hold it. Here's 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:05.720 where the patriarchal family comes in. So in October, the 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:10.719 FBI managed to tap an entire induction ceremony and with 0:14:10.800 --> 0:14:13.800 the card that piece of paper they talk about, it's 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:17.880 actually an image of a saint, like a family may have, 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:20.240 like a patron saying or whatever. So it's an image 0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:22.720 of that and the the inductee holds it and says 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:25.200 something like well, in the patriarchal family, they were made 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:29.200 to say, as burns this saint, so we'll burn my soul. 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:32.960 I enter alive into this organization and leave it dead 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:37.240 and you go drop the burning scene. Yeah, and all 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:39.800 of them are thinking probably in the next few years. Yeah, 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:42.800 we'll give you six months. Uh so, yeah, you burn 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:44.680 the thing holding your hand. Is there any kind of 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:46.680 like feet of strength that you're supposed to hold it 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:48.360 till it burns your fingers or anything like that that 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:51.960 I saw a lot of times. The the new soldier 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:54.520 is paired with a more experienced dude, who is your 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:57.560 godfather guide you through the whole mafia things. I did 0:14:57.560 --> 0:14:59.600 not know that. I just thought godfather was like another 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:03.440 name for like a coppo or a boss or the Don. Well, 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:05.440 I thought I thought in The Godfather it was Don 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:09.840 Corleone was the Godfather, wouldn't he interesting? Uh, the inductee 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:11.560 has to say, you know, I'm gonna be a got 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:14.200 a pledge for life, take a drop of blood from 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:19.760 the trigger finger, which I love that obviously, and uh boom, 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:23.920 you're a made man. Yeah. Well, some the rumor has 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:27.560 it is that you have to prove afterward by taking 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:31.160 part in a murder, is the long standing rumor. But 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:34.920 I think it's before before. Yeah, like you have to 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:37.960 show that you're loyal enough to to kill when ordered 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:41.320 to or at least help out in a killing. You're loyal, 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:43.320 you can keep your mouth shut, you have the stomach 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:47.360 for it. Allegedly, Allegedly, we need to say that we 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:49.600 don't want to get sued by the mafia. And then 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:51.320 the final thing you gotta do before you can become 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:54.200 a made man is you have to face the commission. 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:57.120 And uh, in the twenties and thirties, we mentioned the 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:00.720 commission a second ago. There was so much activity, mob 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:04.600 activity going on that they were recruiting soldiers left and 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:07.280 right just to kind of like claim to two bodies 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:09.760 and say, well, we've got all these guys, and it 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:14.760 became confusing. I gottauld infiltrate and assassinate pretty easily. So 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.040 they literally formed a commission that's like all right, you 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:20.320 gotta it's like a registry almost. So remember I was saying, 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:23.040 like there were heads of the mafia, like in the US, 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:24.840 there were people vying for it, and this is what 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:29.680 it was creating, this hugely violent point in mafia history. Right. 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:33.280 So not only that, Chuck, it was prohibition as well. Well. 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:35.400 That was a huge time of the mafia very much 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:38.200 was right. So there's a lot a lot of money 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:40.680 to be made, an unprecedented amount of money to be made. 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:45.120 It was relatively new turf for the Italian mob in 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:47.640 the US. They've only been here for like maybe thirty 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:51.960 four years, right, um and the uh. There is a 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:55.720 lot of wars going on. And the guy who basically 0:16:55.760 --> 0:16:59.760 brought ordered all this chaos through murder and structure was 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:02.120 k Luciano. Yeah, he was the one that had the 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:04.920 idea for the commission. And he also murdered the two 0:17:04.960 --> 0:17:07.359 guys who were like the rivals for the boss of 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:10.840 bosses and then set up the five families. Now did he? 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:14.240 The commission is different now, The commission is the same 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:16.960 as as the committee meetings. Right, that's the same thing. Okay, 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:19.760 Well they grew out of the committee meetings, so the 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:21.560 commission got a register. That's the last thing you have 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:23.840 to do is literally be like, all right, my name 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:28.200 is Josh the the I Clark. No, it's just Minnesota 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:30.720 Fats clients. So the Fats Clark and I'm with the 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:33.240 Gambino family and I live in Bayonne, New Jersey, and 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:37.119 Kate and Long walks on the beach at night and 0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:42.159 drown people with my bare hands. Right, So, um, you 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:45.080 can finally your made man. You're in the commission, you're registered, 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:48.679 you're the dude, right Well, the commission passes you, they 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:51.719 say that's okay. Well, well this guy is okay with 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:54.200 me to be in your family, because part of the 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:58.679 reason of passing lists of prospective members around is it 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:01.879 weeds out guys who another family has a beef with. 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:04.720 Who if it becomes part of your family, that's gonna 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:07.960 lead to war. Yeah, you don't want that to happen. Plus, 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:11.520 it brings them out of anonymity so that they can't 0:18:11.560 --> 0:18:13.840 just walk up and shoot somebody in the face, right right, right, 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:17.439 because you can't do that unless you're made right right. Well, 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:21.800 this good stuff it is. It's just amazing. Middle class 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:24.760 white dudes like us are fascinated by the mafia. Where 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:28.439 we all want to be in the mafia. Uh So 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:30.640 let's talk about how the mafia makes money, because that's 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:32.560 what the mafia is. Let's I mean, let's get real. 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:37.000 The mafia is there to make money, and uh they 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:39.040 have a history of doing it through illegal means. Otherwise 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:43.400 they wouldn't be the mafia. They'd just be corporations. Right. 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:45.600 One of the way is one of the classic ways 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:47.760 you'll see in movies, which is actually a very real thing, 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:51.720 is extortion protection fees happens all the time, or it 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:53.760 did happen. Imagine it still does in some cases. Still. 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:57.560 Jerry was telling us about kiding Guatemala, who's who's killed 0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:00.760 because the family couldn't pay for protection. Oh is that why? Man? 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:04.520 That's awful. Wow, I realized that was a reason. So 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:06.399 you know, that's the scene from the movie where they 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:08.479 go into the and rough up the shop owner and 0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:12.159 say you gotta pay for protection. Basically to protect you 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:14.760 from us. Is sort of what it boils down to. Yeah, 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:18.439 although imagine sometimes it might have been some legitimate protections. 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:21.880 But the impression I have of it is like, yeah, 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:25.159 they're saying, if you don't pay, then you're not going 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:27.399 to be protected from us. But I think if you 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:31.440 do pay, you kind of enter into this fold where 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:33.399 other people can't mess with you, and if they do, 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:36.399 you can go to the capo or whoever is running 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:39.680 the show that you're paying tribute to um and say 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:41.920 I've got this problem I need you to take care of. 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:44.359 Like I think it gives you access if you're like 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:48.200 a regular paying person. And we'll see when we talk 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:53.000 about mafia history how closely this mirrors, you know, sicily 0:19:53.280 --> 0:19:56.320 and the under the feudal system, any feudal system. Really well, 0:19:56.480 --> 0:19:59.879 remember in The Departed when Leo just went house on 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:03.760 those two guys that were extorting the shop owner and 0:20:03.800 --> 0:20:05.280 he thought he did this guy favor, and then the 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:08.000 shop owner was all ticked off. Afterwards, He's like, thanks 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:09.800 a lot, man, you know you you brought down this 0:20:10.359 --> 0:20:12.359 a reign of terror on me. Oh that's right, he 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:15.760 killed you can kill him. But he mutilated their faces 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:18.920 in the shop. Um. That was such a good movie. 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:22.800 It was. It was great. So alcohol. We talked about prohibition, 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:27.679 illegal drugs, prostitution, gambling. Those are extortion, and that's just 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:31.080 the illegal stuff they can also they also managed to 0:20:31.080 --> 0:20:33.600 make money off stuff that would otherwise be illegal if 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:36.600 they hadn't hijacked it, or would otherwise be legal. I 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:39.320 mean yeah, like importing and exporting stuff like that. It 0:20:39.440 --> 0:20:42.200 was stealing things that other people important. Next, well, that's 0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:44.280 what I mean. But Gotti was like, was he the 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:47.520 one that was into women's apparel? That man had taste? 0:20:47.600 --> 0:20:50.040 I wonder if that's they probably modeled that DeNiro thing 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:52.560 at the end on him, the end of Good Fellows 0:20:52.600 --> 0:20:55.480 where DeNiro has the the Ladies Clothing warehouse. Yeah, but 0:20:55.600 --> 0:20:57.280 that was on Gotti. But I don't know if it 0:20:57.440 --> 0:21:00.720 was because I think Jimmy was an actual person because 0:21:00.760 --> 0:21:04.200 that was all Henry Hill like real life stuff. Yeah, 0:21:04.280 --> 0:21:06.600 but they could have borrowed who knows, or maybe whoever 0:21:06.640 --> 0:21:08.520 he was based on was into women's clothing. Maybe. So, 0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:11.399 like you said, they want to make lots of money. 0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:14.160 So while there are like muggings and stupid things like that, 0:21:14.560 --> 0:21:18.480 they generally would rather hijack a boat and pay off 0:21:18.480 --> 0:21:21.760 a dock worker or steal a semi truck full of 0:21:21.800 --> 0:21:24.679 cigarettes instead of knocking off a store or something like that. 0:21:24.720 --> 0:21:28.800 They want the big dough or they could, say, I 0:21:28.880 --> 0:21:33.159 don't know, infiltrate a labor union and threatened to have 0:21:33.320 --> 0:21:36.920 their workers slow or stop construction if they don't get 0:21:36.960 --> 0:21:40.120 additional money. Yeah, that happened in New York for decades. 0:21:40.200 --> 0:21:44.680 The Mafia infiltrated the Team Stretch union specifically, and they 0:21:44.680 --> 0:21:48.120 said in this article, at one point the Mafia could 0:21:48.119 --> 0:21:50.880 have nearly brought all construction and shipping into the US 0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:52.919 to a halt that they wanted to write that was 0:21:53.040 --> 0:21:56.320 thanks in large part to a guy named Jimmy Hoffa, 0:21:56.760 --> 0:21:59.280 who actually it turned out, you know, he was a 0:21:59.359 --> 0:22:02.040 labor organ eys are in the thirties and that was 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:03.760 like when the cops used to crack the heads of 0:22:03.840 --> 0:22:07.720 labor organizers on behalf of guys like Henry Ford. Right, Um, 0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:09.560 so he was like the real deal, but he was 0:22:09.600 --> 0:22:13.160 also super crooked too. Yeah, he's buried in Oakland Cemetery 0:22:13.240 --> 0:22:17.080 right here in Atlanta, is all right? Now, he's famous 0:22:17.080 --> 0:22:23.040 for not knowing where he was buried. Really, Yeah, he disappeared, Okay, Well, 0:22:23.080 --> 0:22:25.600 the rumor was he's buried under Giant Stadium and I've 0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:27.760 heard that one before too. But you know, you know, 0:22:27.800 --> 0:22:29.840 they finally pinched him and he went to prison for 0:22:29.880 --> 0:22:34.200 a while, and Nixon pardoned him, supposedly because half of 0:22:34.240 --> 0:22:37.640 the teamsters and like a bunch of gangsters like gave 0:22:37.680 --> 0:22:41.560 a lot of money to Nixon's campaign. Interesting, that's allegedly, 0:22:43.160 --> 0:22:46.720 but Halfa gets out and starts campaigning for prison reform. 0:22:47.359 --> 0:22:49.720 Five years after that. Four years after that, he goes 0:22:49.800 --> 0:22:52.960 to lunch in Michigan. Never seen from again has declared 0:22:53.040 --> 0:22:55.560 legally dead in nineteen eight three, but he was the 0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:59.000 head of the Teamsters, but he was finally pinched for fraud. 0:23:00.119 --> 0:23:03.720 And the whole point of being of controlling a labor 0:23:03.800 --> 0:23:07.000 union was you controlled labor, but you also add access 0:23:07.040 --> 0:23:11.359