I love mafia movies. The Godfather, Goodfellas, Casino, Carlito’s Way, Scarface… You name it. However, I only recently got into The Sopranos. I know, I know… I’m a little behind on this phenomenon of a TV show. Seeing as I watched the first episode over 2 years after the series finale aired. One thing that sets The Sopranos apart from all other mafia movies is how deep it delves into how the mafia really works. How these guys actually make their money.

Let me say here that I do realize that this is a fictional television show that was written and produced for entertainment purposes. However, it’s no ‘urban myth’ that there really was a mafia and organized crime. There really were ‘gangsters’ and so on who really did terrorize the working public for many years through various means. And I have heard that The Sopranos is as close to how the real mafia works as it gets.

The three main means of income that are really set forth in the show are gambling (sports betting and high stakes card games), being involved in multi-million dollar contractor bids which usually involved blackmail. And finally… extortion. It’s funny how that works. If you’re a store owner and I’m Mr. Mafia-Guy… I come in and say, “Would you like to buy some protection?” You say, “Protection from what?” I say, “Protection from me.” Then, if the conversation goes sour, I show you why you need to be protected from me. You either agree to pay me a precentage of your profit every week, or you end up at the morgue. Also, as an underling in the mafia, for every dollar you make, a certain percentage of it goes up to your ‘Captain’ (or… ‘immediate supervisor’ I guess you could say) who then takes a percentage of his total earnings that week and passes it up to whoever, who passes it up, and they pass it up and so on, until it reaches the ‘Boss.’ Even non-mafia-related income is to be sliced up and distributed. Take (again, using The Sopranos as an example) the episode “Members Only” for example. Eugene Pontecorvo’s aunt from out of state passes away and leaves him and his family 2 million dollars of inheritance. Eugene gives Tony (the boss) his ‘taste’ of Eugene’s inheritance. Something wrong here? I think so…

From my understanding, this is how alot of the real mafia guys made their living. And according to the government, extortion is illegal and should be dealt with to the full extent of the law. But I gotta ask some questions here…

What about property taxes?
Example: You buy a house. Whether you pay cash or take out a mortgage loan and pay it off over the course of 15 years, that doesn’t really matter. From here on out, as long as you own that house, you owe the government a percentage of what that house is worth. For the sake of my horrible math skills, I’ll throw some easy numbers out there. Let’s say you pay $ 200,000 cash for a house. No loan… no payments… Just cold, hard cash. So the government wants 5% for tax. Now you have to pay $ 210,000 out of pocket. And not just a one time deal upon purchase of the house… Nossiree Bob… That’s 5% every year. What if you bought that house to raise your family in? Over the course of 20 years, you’ve paid double. And again, that’s 5% of what your house is worth. So what if your house grows in value year by year? Guess what… So does the amount you pay in taxes on it. Nevermind that the sale was finalized years ago. You still owe the government their ‘taste’. Sounds like extortion to me.

What about income taxes?
Example: You work 40 hours a week. You make $ 10 dollars an hour. You bring home $ 400 right? Absolutely not… You might bring home $ 345. Where the hell did that $ 55 go? Well my friend, Uncle Sam bent you over again. Just like he has for years, and will keep doing for years to come. And if ole’ Sam decides that $ 55 isn’t enough anymore, he’ll just start taking $ 75. And guess what… There’s not a thing you can do about it. I mean… you really don’t need that $ 55, right? It’s just $ 55. And the more you make, the more they take. “Gee whiz sir! Thanks for that big promotion! I’m so proud! My salary just doubled!” Congratulations friend! Way to go! Now you’re in a higher tax bracket! Instead of them taking 15%, they’re gonna bump it up to 25%! Isn’t that swell? Sounds like extortion to me.

And where is all of this money going? The money that you work so hard for? Well… I’m not going to get into my personal political views. Why? Because they don’t matter. Whether you’re right wing, left wing, Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, Whig or pot-head… None of the above will please everybody. And that’s exactly my point. There are things on both sides of the coin that I agree with and disagree with. What I disagree with most is working for an ho