Now it is laughable to even compare their success and wealth to that of the Italians.
Quite the opposite actually.
There’s nothing laughable about their ability to firmly remain on top.
America is a far less fertile ground than Italy, yet according to the most reliable sources, the Italian-American LCN remains among the most influential criminal subcultures around, especially in the North East, America’s financial hub. Not to mention their continuous relationships with Canada and overseas (long believed to be dead and gone).
No one is remotely trying to imply that they are as influential on their home turf as Italian mobs are on theirs, but the fact that they face so many adversities and yet they manage to maintain their spot is stunningly remarkable and worrisome.
Another aspect I believe plays a role is the fact that America has an ever-changing ethnic landscape, today even faster than in the past. Post-1965 Immigration laws made the USA receive literally millions of non-European immigrants each year (most of whom end up in coastal cities) therefore changing the culture and communities in which they settle.
This doesn’t happen in Italy. All “new†ethnic mobs are small potatoes compared to Italian mafias. Foreign crooks are aware they’re guests on someone else’s turf. They know their boundaries. They can prey on their own and occasionally on unaffiliated Italian civilians, as long as they don’t pose a threat to the main traditional Mafias’ interests.
