Now, some of you may think it's the same thing but I don't believe so. I am talking about gangs like, The Bloods and Crips versus The Mafia. I'm just wondering, if you had to join one, which would it be and why?

I was discussing the differences with my grandfather and we both agreed that the Mafia was the better choice because it comes with more loyalty, more respect and more of a bond, whereas a gang isn't as loyal and would screw you to get what they want. That's my opinion at least.

They are all the same. That "honor and loyalty" is only shown when its benefitial.

Mafia or not they'd all stab someone in the back to make a buck.

mmm I'm not so convinced. I have friends involved in gangs and they tell me a bunch of stuff. A gang has like no loyalty. I belive the Mafia does, you know it's like a family, but you do what the Don says and you'll be fine.

I don't think that anyone on these boards (including myself) is cut out for a life in crime nor do we desire to be. However, if I had to choose between life in a street gang such as The Bloods, The Crips, The Latin Kings etc. or an Organized Crime group such as The Mafia(La Cosa Nostra, La Camorra, Il Mano Negro etc.), The Redfellas, The Yakuza, The Triads etc. I would choose the latter.

You and you're father are inteligent people, those street gangs are not even worth a spit on the guts... The are crap and know no respect, they do things for fun while the Mafia is an enterprise, people gets killed, but there is honor. Gangs are crap, I stand by there! They corrupt boys and give them dope, the other day I was on Colombus Circle and I saw 8 year old boys commiting vandalizm, dressed like if they were gangstas from one of those filthy rap videos, and cursing. I approached them and I asked em who had told them those words, and they called my old fool, they are strunzos and cafones, they are what makes the streets filthy. One of the laws oof the LCN was not to hurth civilians, but these scumbags, and they feel all proud about that they do! The work no gambling or protection, the just care about dope and women, trash!

The Mafia are not as honourable as most of you think either. The "protection" they provide is not even what it's name entails. They force business owners into paying them a weekly or monthly sum of money because their business is on that particular Mafioso's "territory." If the business owner refuses to pay, he is punished severely. Either his income is affected or his health is affected. There is and never was any honour in the Mafia. It is a criminal organisation of thugs, who, in most cases, were too lazy to get a decent education so they decided to use violence to "earn" their income.

Indeed. I can't imagine how these murderous greedy bloodsuckers could be honorable.
They difference I see with regular gangs, is that the Mafia is more organized and just bigger. It's a billion dollar illegal criminal entreprise, parasiting on society, stealing the money of pther criminals and of hardworking people.

I admit there may be rules from which one could derive that the Mafia is more honourable than gangs, like 'Don't sleep with the wife of another made man', and many more. But the most important rule is an unwritten one: follow and break when it turns out the best for you.

Mmm I still don't agree, yes, they can be pushy but gangs just take, kill, rape, there is no meaning behind it, they just do it. I know a lot of people who are part of gangs or were part of them, they tell me all kinds of stories of what they had to do and such. Oh yea and to join a gang you have to be initiated in some way whether it is a murder, robbery, rape, etc... So the Mafia isn't so glamorous but if you're on the inside you're set. So you kill a few people along the way, people die everyday, naturally, unnaturally, in a war that imo we shouldn't be in, we can't help that. I'd rather my kids grow up in a mob setting than in a gang one because atleast I'll know they'll be more protected and they won't be doing drugs at 8 or selling them at that... Anyway, I still believe the Mafia is the better choice.

MafiaJ, obviously La Cosa Nostra or some other Organized Crime group is the better choice. It's because they are organized, and they are more sophisticated than the street type gangs. Also, the image of the dashing Mafioso is a mainstay in Western culture and The Mafia has been romanticized (for better or worse) to such an extent that it is almost "cool" to be a criminal. Having said all this, yes, as I said earlier, I would rather be in The Mafia or some sort of Organized Crime operation as opposed to an (unorganized) street gang. However, I would much rather be a man that doesn't take shit from anybody and doesn't dish out shit to anyobody unless they have it coming to them. Do my own thing, get the best possible education I can (formal and informal) and live a good, healthy, balanced life. I'm not saying that this is impossible in The Mafia or whatever, I just think that it would be much harder and not really worth it. MafiaJ have you ever killed someone? I ask because you make it sound like an every day thing and I can assure you it is not. I have never killed anyone and I don't have any intentions of ever doing so. Even Mafiosi know that violence is bad for business and should always be a last resort.

The same thing in the mafia.

People die anyway, so why not kill them, you mean? :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

The maffia is in drugs.

Whatever. They're both criminal bastards.

Io sto giù coi Bloods!(I like da Bloods!)

Yeah of course!!! A good choice? At least in the gangs you would be killed by your enemies, and not by your best friends, brother... (Pino Greco, the Riccobonos........)
Living a life of an ouomo d´onore is the horror, for any normal human being. Luxus isn´t that great like the TV uses to tell you (Just look at the hiding of Zu Binnu, who was caught yesterday), and you living in a paranoia-nightmare. Every little word, sign, what they are not saying..., could lead to your death, and you can´t trust anybody, because the one who kills you will be the one you trust the most. Only power driven psychopaths or people, who are born into it can enjoy that lifestyle.

Tough question, but i think you can easier turn your back to a gang and leave that life and start over again somewhere else, than when you're in a mafia family. it'll haunt you forever.

Franklin, did you read my whole post, or only the bit that you quoted?

Sorry i actually didn´t read your whole post.
Excuse me

id choose an organised gang that could justify ther crimes and didnt do things just for the thrill of it

so if i had to choose it wuld probs b the mafia

That is a tough question, one that requires much thought if one actually had to choose. If left with no choice, I would join the mafia personally. Every organization is going to get screwed up and violent, but from watching and experience I know the bloods/crips are excessively violent, acting first then thinking about it later. Plus the initations are degrading for women, depending on which you choose I suppose. Then you do have to think, would you rather be killed by your friends or family? Would you want to be involved unless you had no other way to make it in life? I don't know.

My family came from the hills in Kentucky, and we all have a certain way of thinking about things. If any of you guys are from the hills then you know what I mean. I grew up in Indiana though and so it's not in me like it is my parents, but there is "hillbilly justice". It's not like Next of Kin either, something I really couldn't explain if I wanted to.