Lubna Alli

In today’s society where everything is so fast-paced and technology is rampant, I’m confident that those without devices and social media would simply have a hard time integrating in our modern world today. Similarly, I believe that this is magnified to a greater degree when it comes to a leader trying to reach out to his followers. I believe that future leaders of the Mafia need to be very tech savvy in order to produce the most optimal results. As was discussed in the Gretch reading, the more information you have, the more power you have. The implication for the leader here is that this is not the source of power. This is because with technology there is a power shift and subordinates are able to communicate, plan and take action quicker amongst themselves. This is where an open-minded leader who can think and act fast becomes a valuable asset to the Mafia.

Given the future context facing the Cosa Nostra, more specifically the amount of resistance that they are currently facing from various anti-Mafia movements, I believe that a more people-oriented leadership style will work best in the future. Even then, it may still be difficult to remedy the situation and put a calm to the storm. There are years upon years of threat, hurt, and victimization that the Mafia would need to make amends for before they would be able to gain any type of substantial support from their members. This is comparable to the hurt and threat that we learned that the Jews who lived in the Jewish Ghettos in Rome faced. Decades later and the church is still trying to right the wrongs they committed.

Thinking critically and keeping in mind that the Mafia’s key goal is to make money, I believe that they could put to good use a lot of the technology that today’s society has to offer. For example, it was mentioned by our tour guide in Corleone that the Mafia leader is in hiding somewhere near the city of his birthplace. What was also mentioned was that he has still been running all Mafia-related operations while being in hiding. Given this information, the use of apps such as Skype, FaceTime, iMessage, Whatsapp or any other communication device would be beneficial. Of course, some other technology that removes the traceability and wire-tapping of inter-Mafia communication would also be necessary to avoid getting caught. Nowadays, transferring money between different accounts is also possible without actually physically visiting a bank. With bank apps, and even with the cheque scanner feature on Snapchat, depositing and transferring money would be no issue. Likewise, with the app DocuSign, contracts and documents can also be drafted, signed and shared simply through the World Wide Web. Technology is beneficial in this situation because there is no paper trail or fingerprints to worry about. As horrid as this sounds, technology makes doing the dirty work easy.

Through the use of this technology there are many opportunities to invest and grow a business. In fact, many entrepreneurs today have started their business through social media. The simplest way to make money with technology, business-wise, is to monetize YouTube videos, allow Google ads to run on a website or to create an online store where people can purchase a good or a service. The beauty in the Internet is that most things are anonymous. This is golden for the Mafia because they can use this to their advantage by buying out popular URLs and reselling them for higher prices, for example. In a society where having a custom URL is so important to be competitive, there is definitely a niche market of opportunity there for business growth. This is just one of the many opportunities that technology could provide for growth. If the Mafia is already racking up cash through pizzo and other means, think about all the possibilities for them to do the same using technology. As glorious as this sounds, it is also scary to think that you maybe buying something online that is not pizzo free. I guess it is true; technology is always one step ahead of us. We thought we only had to worry about pizzo free in the shops of Sicily. Looks like me might have to start worrying about pizzo free online too.

Hoping I’m one step ahead,

Lubna