In another thread Immobiliare brought up a variation of an old question:
do you think Tom had it in him to become a good Don?
Can there be something like a "good" Mafia Don?
To me, this question about a good Don is kind of absurd: After all we're talking about the head of an organisation that earns money by killing people. It's like asking "What makes a good dictator?"
I don't think it's accurate to say a Mafia family "earns money by killing people." That's what a hitman does. A Mafia family certainly uses violence (including deadly force) for various reasons, and often (though not always) those are financially related. But I don't think killing itself is a major way the organization as a whole makes money. Extortion, racketeering, prostitution, gambling etc. are, and violence is often used in these areas.
On the question of "goodness," obviously nobody becomes a Mafia don (or a dictator) by being some sort of candidate for sainthood. In forming one's opinion of a particular individual in the mob, or a particular dictator, one has to take this into account from the outset. Some mobsters, like "Gaspipe" Casso and Nicky Scarfo, were way more brutal than a person has to be even if they're a Mafia leader. Vito Corleone, on the other hand, seems to have been about as good and kind a person as one could be without ceasing to be a viable Mafia don. He does seem like a good guy within the context of the mob, although not by the standards of the larger society. He's clearly not a villain in the context of the Godfather book and movies.
