Good post and good solid points.

One big misconception is that Maranazano was the one who set the structure of the Families. The structure of the Mafia looked the same back in the 1920s (before he came to power) as it does now. Back then there was a boss, an underboss, a consigliere, caporegimes and soldiers. This comes through in Gentile´s translated memoirs. If you are interested, maybe I can hook you up with a copy. But it´s not an easy read.

In a way, the Mafia is a process, constantly changing and evolving. The early austere Sicilian borgatas, I believe, provided primarily security and safety by unifications of blood related clans and turned (in America, and perhaps in Sicily too) into large "Families" and a "multimilion dollar industry" where money started to make the rules. Bonanno lived through it all, from being a member of the powerful Bonanno/Bonventre/Magaddino clan of Castellammare del Golfo to being a powerful boss of a Mafia Family in New York. He explains, in his book, the loss of tradition, honor and the way of life he knew during this process. And from being a strictly Sicilian "thing", the Mafia started to recruit mainland Italians, who weren´t exposed to this Sicilian tradition and way of life from birth, and therefore couldn´t fully understand it. These things is what I believe Bonanno meant by "The Mafia is a process".

Anyway, my first response was regarding the video/documentary posted above. And I still think that the video contributes to the confusion and inaccuracies you undoubtfully wish to debunk. I am of the same nature. The history of the Mafia, as we think we know it, is actually riddled with misconceptions and faulty conclusions. What we need to do is go back to the original sources, with an open mind, and try to interpert the info in a correct way. There are way too many authors who are basically just doing there books for a quick buck, riding on a wave of sensationalism and popularism in hopes that their books will sell. And I kinda understand them, who would want to buy a book that is not mainstream, goes against what the fake history has taught them and does not include familiar names? Way too much info in books (not to mention documentaries) on the subject of the Mafia is close to falsified or flatout rubbish. And the internet today, where everybody with the slightest interest can set up blogs and put up all kinds of misinformation certainly contributes to the problem. I´m sure you agree.

I hope you enjoyed a good day of work!