“I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.” – Vito Corleone / Michael Corleone

This quote is the most popular quote of all The Godfather quotes.  It epitomizes what the mafia is all about: discrete illegitimacy.  “An offer he can’t refuse” basically means, “I told the guy, he can accept the offer or he’ll die.” Death is a very serious threat.  Thus, the mafia know no one is likely to refuse an unfortunate option over death.

he mafia hide the reality of what they’re doing in terms that make their actions sound less violent.  Thus this quote perfectly masks the reality, while subtly conveying the meesage.  Antoher example of their subtle violence deals with informing someone that they killed someone.  For example, when an enemy informs the people of a death, instead of saying “hey we led this person.” – the mafia say, “This guy sleeps with fishes.” The message is subtle but understood.

The mystique of the mafia is likely why I love learning about them so much.  They’re not exactly a secret society like the Illuminati or the Knights’ Templar, but they provide onlookers with enough information to follow and enough information missing to keep us guessing.  For some odd reason, I have so much respect for the societal exploiters.  Although their morals are questionable, their tactics are very intelligent.  Intelligence knows no morals; thus, it is fair to appreciate the ingenuity of immoral people without necessarily agreeing with their choices.  That’s exactly how I feel about the mafia and Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean.  Their morals are questionable but their intelligence is admirable.  The subtleness of the mafia’s “making offers people can’t refuse” highly exemplifies what the mafia is all about.

So next time, instead of completely condoning organized crime, I hope my blogs have encouraged readers to appreciate the intelligence of the mafia and understand where they are coming from.