An issue I'm seeing a lot these days (especially among us Americans) is the idea that a family must have a literal army of members in order to be even considered proper LCN. That's misguided and laughably American. We are obsessed with the "biggest" this and the "largest" that...
In Italy there are tons of small crime families that held power over one single town (or a couple of neighborhoods of a city) and have less than 50 people, total. Yet, no one would dare to say they're not mafia. Why? Because they keep both their criminal and cultural rituals alive. They have making ceremonies, according to their size and scope, of course. Even if it means to have one every few years. They might not influence a national election, but they can influence the mayor of their village or elect the local representative of a city district they control. That's all you need. Enough people (even by marriage or blood) to have ceremonies and enough activities (of all kinds, including counterfeiting or other scams) to keep business open. They might not be able to import millions of euros worth of drugs, but they control a bunch of dealers in a local square. We are seeing this in the US already, particularly in places like Philly.
The golden age of the American Mob "spoiled" the public. They think that the only form the mafia can have is to be a large, global and nation-wide conspiracy. Some families still fit that profile (Gambino, Genovese) but those who don't (Colombo, Boston, ecc...) are, and will be, mafia nonetheless as long as they carry on their folklore and activities, of any kind.
True Luan. But only to a degree! Italy/Sicily is a much different beast altogether. There are borgatas over there that literally only have 10-15 members. But they ARE a recognized independent family per se nonetheless. There are hundreds of such families all across Sicily. But what we speak of in America is different. At their 1940s-1960s peak, there were only 26 known families throughout the entire U.S.A. to begin with. In the year 2022, we are down to approximately 7-9 families left (and each of those are but a wisp of what they once were, and what their total membership once was). THATS a fact!
It is a dying breed! Will they continue? Of course they will! But little by little, they will be whittled down to nothing. It might take a few more decades (I don't doubt that at all). But there are way too many negative influences and forces working against them to ever consider differently. To do so is to defy logic and to stay with a blindfold on.
I never in my life thought I would say this, but the world has changed!
