or town. In his book The Sicilian Mafia, Diego Gambetta describes the process When the butcher comes to me to buy an animal, he knows that I want to cheat him. But I know that he wants to cheat me. Thus we need, say, Peppe [that is, a third party] to make us agree. And we both pay Peppe a percentage of the deal. This method has many implications. Peppe is trusted by both the consumer and producer and his position as a Mafiosi entitles him to demand fairness and respect. In business terms, a Mafiosi is an entrepreneur, and the service he provides is protection. He protects both players in the transaction he oversees. Gambetta touches upon this by saying: An entrepreneur who trades in secondhand horses or smuggled cigarettes may purchase the protection of a Mafiosi. Alternatively, the Mafiosi may deal in drugs or used cars, but this is not what makes him a Mafioso. What does make him a Mafioso is the fact that he is capable of protecting himself as well as others against cheats and competitors. Opportunities were limited in Sicily for the Mafia; they needed to find ways to expand their business without losing the company of Italians, who understood best the functional benefits of the Mafias presence. With immigration rising, America provided the ideal environment for members of the Mafia to expand their arguably illegitimate business ventures.The advent of the 20th century witnessed a significant influx of Italian immigrants into America, a movement largely caused by a common dream among these people one of discovering wealth and prosperity in the United States. Members of the Sicilian Mafia had the same dream. A member of the Mafia in Sicily can only achieve so much. Sicily is an Island located off the Southwest of Italy, and it was very difficult for Mafioso to extend their sphere of business into the mainland of Italy. They saw the Unites States as an open door with endless possibilities. In America, still under th...
