You're exactly right about almost every aspect of lcn with the exception of a few of the ny families. Once the old time leadership and values are gone, your family turns into a drug trafficking network and that's when it all falls apart. The young guys are in this only for two reasons. 1. they are just attempting to do what their fathers and gradfathers did for the only reason other than to make a little money without getting their hands dirty. 2. they are wannabes and are a direct result of hollywood movies.
Most, and I mean in the upper 80% of the current guys a part of this have no idea what they're doing. Even more so, anyone younger than 35 in this thing grew up with MTV and nintendo, and is, in my mind, putting up a fake image of themselves. Look at the indictments, they all revolve around drugs which is the easiest and most juvenile way to make money. The rest of the indictment are failed attempts at extortion , shylocking,and rackets.
Once the old guys are gone, it will systematically collapse. The government knows it and attacks it in such a way. We always used to joke how everyone wants to be a tough guy until things get tough. That's is the reality of the new blood. Be something in life, someone said this in an earlier post but the government hates competition.
Great post. That's close to what I wanted to say, but you said it better.
Any Italian-American kid with a rich gangster for a dad is going to go to college unless he's really dumb/lazy. Worst case scenario, the might end up as a mob accountant or lawyer like Corozzo, but even in that case
his own kids will have nothing to do with the mob.
Look at the Todaros in Buffalo. The patriarch (born around 1920) did what he had to do in
VERY different times, Jr made a living as both a mobster and a (ridiculously successful - one of his pizzerias did $100K in sales in a week, which is like 5000+ pizzas and an indeterminate quantity of wings) legitimate businessmen, and Joe the 3rd isn't involved at all AFAIK. Too many pizzas to make.
One of the arguments that you hear about how the families consisting of a bunch of 80 year olds will survive is "oh they have young proteges that they're schooling in the traditional ways of Cosa Nostra waiting in the wings".
