I am looking forward to the second installment about Mazzini's role as a Godfather of the Sicilian Mafia in the 2nd half of the 19th Century. On this note I read in the September 2020 edition of "Delayed Gratification" (a truly British Deep State publication) an interesting theory about how the Sicilian mafia came to its prominence a century earlier: While sailing on the HMS Salisbury in 1747 Royal Navy doctor James Lind discovers discovers that oranges and lemons prevent the scurvy, a diseases that killed about 50% of all sailors on long voyages. After the anti-scurvy strategy catches on among all European navies in the course of the next century, the demand for lemons rockets. The island of Sicily, which thanks to its climate dominates the production of lemons sees its exports increase from 1'341 to 20'707 barrels per year between 1834 and 1850. The Sicilian landowning aristocracy had to hire criminals to protect their suddenly valuable groves and to expel by force their lessees in order to increase their profit. Of course, the hired criminals did reduce the landowners' profits. Not only that then with time these criminals banded together. The Sicilian mafia was born and swiftly gained political influence. I recommend to read Tomasi di Lampedusa's "Il Gattopardo" or to watch Visconti's movie "The Leopard" with Burt Lancaster playing the aging Principe di Salina.
Funny how there was a moral action and an immoral action the landowners took with the tenants. It was perfectly legitimate to hire protection for their crops. But, they also engaged the criminals to break the social contract they had with their tenants.
I appreciate the history. It seems parallel to a gnostic universe: there is good and evil in everything. The mafia provided valuable services, but also in part made those services necessary. And they never seemed able to just take the fruits of their efforts legitimately and forgo the temptation to engage in destructive behaviors for their own profit.
This article..as do all of your writings and research…answered many questions about my tumultuous life here in Napoli…I have meditated for 21 years about the why’s of my intersection with these coordinates…you have again provided a map…Grazie Mille
Great insight and very interesting! Thanks and best regards Cynthia.
Thank you, Cynthia, for delving into this part of Universal History!
Thank you dear Uwe, and for your wonderful class on Schiller's approach to Universal History for RTF yesterday!
I am looking forward to the second installment about Mazzini's role as a Godfather of the Sicilian Mafia in the 2nd half of the 19th Century. On this note I read in the September 2020 edition of "Delayed Gratification" (a truly British Deep State publication) an interesting theory about how the Sicilian mafia came to its prominence a century earlier: While sailing on the HMS Salisbury in 1747 Royal Navy doctor James Lind discovers discovers that oranges and lemons prevent the scurvy, a diseases that killed about 50% of all sailors on long voyages. After the anti-scurvy strategy catches on among all European navies in the course of the next century, the demand for lemons rockets. The island of Sicily, which thanks to its climate dominates the production of lemons sees its exports increase from 1'341 to 20'707 barrels per year between 1834 and 1850. The Sicilian landowning aristocracy had to hire criminals to protect their suddenly valuable groves and to expel by force their lessees in order to increase their profit. Of course, the hired criminals did reduce the landowners' profits. Not only that then with time these criminals banded together. The Sicilian mafia was born and swiftly gained political influence. I recommend to read Tomasi di Lampedusa's "Il Gattopardo" or to watch Visconti's movie "The Leopard" with Burt Lancaster playing the aging Principe di Salina.
Funny how there was a moral action and an immoral action the landowners took with the tenants. It was perfectly legitimate to hire protection for their crops. But, they also engaged the criminals to break the social contract they had with their tenants.
Brilliant.
I appreciate the history. It seems parallel to a gnostic universe: there is good and evil in everything. The mafia provided valuable services, but also in part made those services necessary. And they never seemed able to just take the fruits of their efforts legitimately and forgo the temptation to engage in destructive behaviors for their own profit.
This article..as do all of your writings and research…answered many questions about my tumultuous life here in Napoli…I have meditated for 21 years about the why’s of my intersection with these coordinates…you have again provided a map…Grazie Mille