I remember watching “The Godfather” and several death scenes featured oranges. It had confused movie critics for decades as to the symbolism of oranges in death. Maybe your video has solved the riddle.
As a Sicilian, I really appreciate this video. There is this kind of inertia in telling the story of how the mafia came about in Sicilian schools, mainly talking about the failures of unifying Italy, 19th-century banditry, and western powers reinforcing mafia dynamics during, for example, the World Wars. Hearing about the economic aspect of this, and about newer studies on this story, is really refreshing. Judging from other videos you made in the past, and of course your background as a historian, you are aware of the geographical power imbalances between Italy's South and the North. This has led to both systemic and non-systemic discrimination practices that now we know as 'antimeridionalismo' (anti-Southernism). The fight against anti-Southernism is also tied to the struggle against the mafia, and against the imagery and stereotypes that were brought about not only by Sicily's ties to the mafia, but also by the North of Italy and foreign countries taking economic advantage of the mafia symbol and making it glamourous. So, I really appreciate how you made sure at the beginning to make clear that the mafia is not what we see in movies, and that Sicily is not 'Mafialand' and is completely safe.
My wife is from northern Italy and you can definitely see the major differences between the north and the south. The people I am around don’t speak negatively about the south, although I know it is a common stereotype to think so.
I'm curious about how the mafia changed when it began to move overseas, too - the US had a lot of southern Italian immigrants in particular, but there were also many people who went to South America. In the US, Italians, like the Irish and Polish, are part of a centuries-long debate about who is considered "white" and who is allowed to assimilate into white American culture. It makes a ton of sense for a group that already arose because of weak government protection to migrate and protect its diaspora communities. Regardless, it's very interesting to know that, in a way, we can thank Napoleon for The Sopranos!
And I thought J. Jonah Jameson was crazy for wanting to turn lemons into grenades. In all seriousness, at first you had my curiosity, now you have my attention.
i'm considering the possibility that the source of that 1.6 million gallons of lemon juice figure is an old British source. which means they're imperial gallons, not the smaller US gallon. which means it would by 7,273,000 liters. furthermore, it seemed like you where trying to use the volume of a single smaller lemon. but not all of the lemon is juice. the internet says about 2 tablespoons from a smaller lemon, so i rounded up to 30mL and got 242,433,300 lemons
My best friend is from Sicily and back in high school days he had acquaintances who would unashamedly say that they went out stealing lemons. One of them, I was told, was shot (but missed) by someone who caught him in the act.
7:08 reminds me of something similar i read maybe a year ago, about avocados in Michoacan (Mexico).... fruits on trees, high value, high demand, armed militia for protection, etc
Interesting! And you're right - the word, mafia, now applies to any complex criminal organization regardless of location in the world. And your approach is wonderfully reminiscent of James Burke's old documentary series, Connections 😀
The judge whose car was blown up in the 1980s was called Giovanni Falcone. Later, the methods he used to prosecute the Sicilian mafia was used by prosecutors in Rome in the "Clean Hands" operation. In Brazil, the then federal judge Sérgio Moro applied his methods in the Car Wash anti-corruption operation.
Oh... your ad read starts with "I just got a beamer", and my American ears wondered where your BMW automobile was. 😕 And lemons are one of my favourite flavours (yes, Commonwealth spelling), so this was a very intriguing topic. Thank you!
Quite different from the version of history where they developed out of the romanticised neopolitian bandits and highwaymen of the 1700-1800s, very interesting video.
3:16 Since I've made that mistake in the past too: A Be{a/e}mer is a BMW vehicle. What you got there is a video projector :) Otherwise, great video. Thank you!
I am afraid it’s not correct if you talk English instead of Dutch. Making this mistake myself as well… Beamer was a brand of projectors, and the Dutch started to use the brand name for the all the projectors.
Started this video hoping that someone foreign would, finally, pronounced " 'ndrangheta " correctly...you failed me. Jokes aside: this is probably one of the best videos i've ever seen trying to tackle this topic. Cheers from Italy
Not that it matters but I can't get over how attractive you are, anyways I love your videos and I hope you keep making them for a long time the amount of research but also visuals that go into them are seriously impressive for how small of an operation it seems thanks for bringing cool topics to us! Your east/western Germany video brought about some really cool discussion with some German friends and their parents which is awesome. You definitely deserve the explosion of success that your channel will inevitably see!
My guy how the hell did you get 173 million lemons, two google search’s and one calculation and you get 55 million (using small lemons), plus thats over 20 years so in reality that’s a pretty tiny number
Isn't it true that many other plants have vit C? Were lemons the most long-lasting plant resource that they could bring on long voyages? Supposedly some conifer parts have enough vit C, yucky, but a resource nonetheless.
yes (like sauerkraut) but lemons are easy to transport and have very high amounts of vit c. The British also started to import limes, but they have less vitamin c and they also cooked the juice, which basically killed all the vitamin c in it.
There is another explanation I think you should know: You mentioned that Cosa Nostra are clans, and it is maybe a word people don't understand, because yes you are family, but how come you are so large family and united together? This is were cousin marriage comes in hand, and a specific one: the daughters marry the uncles sons. By doing this the wealth stays within the family, within the clan. You also increase the genetic similarity, marry cousins in multiple generations make you genetically similar like siblings. This means you also stick together more, people tend to take more care for a sibling than a cousin. But, the inbreeding also increase, it is easy to joke about the deformed Habsburgs, but the sickness happens to anyone. Also, the level of violence goes up, maybe to protect the clan, but also shows an heavy increase of ADHD in modern studdies. This inbreeding, with all its sicknesses, was seen so bad that the Catholic church put a lot of effort to forbid it, and did so across Europe. But Sicily sure must be Catholic? Yes, now they are, but their history is different, 827-1091 it was the Emirate of Sicily, and Christians was under the Orthodox church (banned first 1585), which did not enforce strict regulations against cousin marriages, so the practices remain in the island. This is not too uncommon in places with weak government, then the clan provides the protection that the state would otherwise do. And 1814-1861 was just that for Sicily. From wikipedia. "In Southern Italy, cousin marriage was a usual tradition in regions such as Calabria and Sicily, where first-cousin marriage in the 1900s was near to 50 percent of all marriages." (Note that Calabria also have large mafia: 'Ndrangheta) "The greater the rate of cousin marriage in a province, the higher the rates of corruption and Mafia activity.”
Go to sponsr.is/cs_presentpast and use code PRESENTPAST to save 25% off today. Thanks to Curiosity Stream for sponsoring today’s video
Wow
I remember watching “The Godfather” and several death scenes featured oranges. It had confused movie critics for decades as to the symbolism of oranges in death. Maybe your video has solved the riddle.
When Life gives you lemons, start a mafia.
🤣🤣🤣
When life gives you lemons, be a bregand
damn if that don't sound badass😂
that's how mafia works.
As a Sicilian, I really appreciate this video. There is this kind of inertia in telling the story of how the mafia came about in Sicilian schools, mainly talking about the failures of unifying Italy, 19th-century banditry, and western powers reinforcing mafia dynamics during, for example, the World Wars. Hearing about the economic aspect of this, and about newer studies on this story, is really refreshing.
Judging from other videos you made in the past, and of course your background as a historian, you are aware of the geographical power imbalances between Italy's South and the North. This has led to both systemic and non-systemic discrimination practices that now we know as 'antimeridionalismo' (anti-Southernism). The fight against anti-Southernism is also tied to the struggle against the mafia, and against the imagery and stereotypes that were brought about not only by Sicily's ties to the mafia, but also by the North of Italy and foreign countries taking economic advantage of the mafia symbol and making it glamourous. So, I really appreciate how you made sure at the beginning to make clear that the mafia is not what we see in movies, and that Sicily is not 'Mafialand' and is completely safe.
How Italy is divided is definitely on the list for next year!
@@ThePresentPast_ excitedd!!
@@ThePresentPast_ooh yeah great topic, cant wait
My wife is from northern Italy and you can definitely see the major differences between the north and the south. The people I am around don’t speak negatively about the south, although I know it is a common stereotype to think so.
I'm curious about how the mafia changed when it began to move overseas, too - the US had a lot of southern Italian immigrants in particular, but there were also many people who went to South America. In the US, Italians, like the Irish and Polish, are part of a centuries-long debate about who is considered "white" and who is allowed to assimilate into white American culture. It makes a ton of sense for a group that already arose because of weak government protection to migrate and protect its diaspora communities. Regardless, it's very interesting to know that, in a way, we can thank Napoleon for The Sopranos!
When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.
When life hands you melons, you may be dyslexic.
And I thought J. Jonah Jameson was crazy for wanting to turn lemons into grenades. In all seriousness, at first you had my curiosity, now you have my attention.
*Cave Johnson. J. Jonah Jameson was only interested in getting pictures of that goddamned Spider-Man.
i'm considering the possibility that the source of that 1.6 million gallons of lemon juice figure is an old British source. which means they're imperial gallons, not the smaller US gallon. which means it would by 7,273,000 liters. furthermore, it seemed like you where trying to use the volume of a single smaller lemon. but not all of the lemon is juice. the internet says about 2 tablespoons from a smaller lemon, so i rounded up to 30mL and got 242,433,300 lemons
I’ve binged all of your videos. Very well researched and interesting.
My best friend is from Sicily and back in high school days he had acquaintances who would unashamedly say that they went out stealing lemons. One of them, I was told, was shot (but missed) by someone who caught him in the act.
an absolutely amazingly produced video on a fascinating subject-I genuinely had no idea about most of the concepts explored in this video!
Appreciate it!
I knew SpongeBob was right!!! E V I L = Every Villain is Lemon!! Preach it !!
Great video, right now in Sicily, and almost by accident I was going through your channel and found this amazing video!
what a crazy story! and good calculations...
As a true alpha math is my passion.
Amazing video worth millions of views. Keep up the great work, it will pay off!
Im so in love with this channel ^^
Am I the only one who thinks that the green jacket makes him look like a supermarket employee?😅
The video is really well made , you should change the thumbnail and i am sure the video will gain more views.
You are simply the zest
There's also a great story in how that mafia would be exported to the US (NYC) in the late 1800's if IIRC.
When life gives you lemons
make a Mafia
Great video!
Great documentary. That Sicily map🤌😍
7:08 reminds me of something similar i read maybe a year ago, about avocados in Michoacan (Mexico).... fruits on trees, high value, high demand, armed militia for protection, etc
I didn't even think of that while watching this video, but yeah, that's correct. It's often been referred to as the "avocado mafia"
what an interesting video… and even more interesting the way you calculated the lemons amount using also a minesweeper 😅 the things we learn everyday!
I’m surprised it’s not the lemons from Naples. They are huge and amazing.
When life gives you lemons, make the mafia.
Keep it up ..... Your gettin better :)
Interesting! And you're right - the word, mafia, now applies to any complex criminal organization regardless of location in the world. And your approach is wonderfully reminiscent of James Burke's old documentary series, Connections 😀
The judge whose car was blown up in the 1980s was called Giovanni Falcone. Later, the methods he used to prosecute the Sicilian mafia was used by prosecutors in Rome in the "Clean Hands" operation. In Brazil, the then federal judge Sérgio Moro applied his methods in the Car Wash anti-corruption operation.
I loved your videos, you are awesome
Anyway, this lemon story is just one of many hypotheses that have been made by academic scholars of the mafia phenomenon.
Oh... your ad read starts with "I just got a beamer", and my American ears wondered where your BMW automobile was. 😕
And lemons are one of my favourite flavours (yes, Commonwealth spelling), so this was a very intriguing topic. Thank you!
In essence, olympic swimming pools are big.
Banger
This is great! Such a shame the video has this little views...
Quite different from the version of history where they developed out of the romanticised neopolitian bandits and highwaymen of the 1700-1800s, very interesting video.
Fascinating
Bro looks so funny every time he says word mafia 😂😂😂
3:16 Since I've made that mistake in the past too: A Be{a/e}mer is a BMW vehicle. What you got there is a video projector :) Otherwise, great video. Thank you!
While yes a beamer may refer to a BMW, in the Netherlands we refer to a video projector as a beamer. So what he's saying is correct.
I am afraid it’s not correct if you talk English instead of Dutch. Making this mistake myself as well…
Beamer was a brand of projectors, and the Dutch started to use the brand name for the all the projectors.
Started this video hoping that someone foreign would, finally, pronounced " 'ndrangheta " correctly...you failed me.
Jokes aside: this is probably one of the best videos i've ever seen trying to tackle this topic.
Cheers from Italy
Did I miss the part where he talked about the Cosa Nostra controlling Sicilian lemons?
When life gives me lemons I make beef stew.
Hey in California (maybe elsewhere) a "beamer" is a BMW 😄 we can that device a projector.
After some quick googling, beamer as BMW seems to be a British/American thing, while beamer as projector is a German/Dutch thing
If only lemons were spiky I might never gave had to fall asleep to The Godfather again ;)
Nice "Horse racing tracks of Milan" merch...?
Hmmm alright. taking notes
Interesting he calls a projector a Beamer. Never heard it called that
Not that it matters but I can't get over how attractive you are, anyways I love your videos and I hope you keep making them for a long time the amount of research but also visuals that go into them are seriously impressive for how small of an operation it seems thanks for bringing cool topics to us! Your east/western Germany video brought about some really cool discussion with some German friends and their parents which is awesome. You definitely deserve the explosion of success that your channel will inevitably see!
Brigrands: brig, like pig. Short "i."
And there were no Olympics, nor any Olympic swimming pools from 393 AD until 1896.
John dickie: cosa nostra - a history of the sicilian mafia
Good 👍 channel
Wow 👀
w-wait so the threat of lemon stealing wh*res is historically accurate?
I am not aware of the thieves being sex workers
My wife and I were debating if he would know about that meme or not given the age of it.
Hello this reminds of the avocado situation in Mexico. Where villages have to protect themselves angainst the cartel .
Yes definitely a good comparison!
My guy how the hell did you get 173 million lemons, two google search’s and one calculation and you get 55 million (using small lemons), plus thats over 20 years so in reality that’s a pretty tiny number
The "i" in "brigand" is pronounced as in the word "big".
Since I've added this to my "Watch Later" Playlist, this changed thumbnails 3 times. Is everything OK?
its a solid 10/10
2:10 "oh you mean Insurance compana-"
oh. never mind. different kind of scumbag eh? =)
Isn't it true that many other plants have vit C? Were lemons the most long-lasting plant resource that they could bring on long voyages? Supposedly some conifer parts have enough vit C, yucky, but a resource nonetheless.
yes (like sauerkraut) but lemons are easy to transport and have very high amounts of vit c. The British also started to import limes, but they have less vitamin c and they also cooked the juice, which basically killed all the vitamin c in it.
I think the Phoenicians and the Greeks were in Sicily before the Romans.
2:12 of basically the USA
5:46 Citizens *from the maduro dictatorship.
Your hair looks nice today
Within 4 weeks!
There is another explanation I think you should know: You mentioned that Cosa Nostra are clans, and it is maybe a word people don't understand, because yes you are family, but how come you are so large family and united together?
This is were cousin marriage comes in hand, and a specific one: the daughters marry the uncles sons. By doing this the wealth stays within the family, within the clan. You also increase the genetic similarity, marry cousins in multiple generations make you genetically similar like siblings. This means you also stick together more, people tend to take more care for a sibling than a cousin. But, the inbreeding also increase, it is easy to joke about the deformed Habsburgs, but the sickness happens to anyone. Also, the level of violence goes up, maybe to protect the clan, but also shows an heavy increase of ADHD in modern studdies. This inbreeding, with all its sicknesses, was seen so bad that the Catholic church put a lot of effort to forbid it, and did so across Europe.
But Sicily sure must be Catholic? Yes, now they are, but their history is different, 827-1091 it was the Emirate of Sicily, and Christians was under the Orthodox church (banned first 1585), which did not enforce strict regulations against cousin marriages, so the practices remain in the island. This is not too uncommon in places with weak government, then the clan provides the protection that the state would otherwise do. And 1814-1861 was just that for Sicily.
From wikipedia. "In Southern Italy, cousin marriage was a usual tradition in regions such as Calabria and Sicily, where first-cousin marriage in the 1900s was near to 50 percent of all marriages." (Note that Calabria also have large mafia: 'Ndrangheta)
"The greater the rate of cousin marriage in a province, the higher the rates of corruption and Mafia activity.”
Bloody Mafia!
They're not very good at keeping silent
Comment for the algorithm
❤
15,195th viewer of this video!
If you're trying to learn Italian, you should work more on word stress.
For example, your pronunciation of omertà and ndrangheta...
Lémon
Olive oil ?
Soooooo...how did lemons make the mafia?
The mafia started as security forces for lemon groves.
lmao
❤