It's apparent that blood runs thicker than water, it's something I can recognize anyways. With that being said, how many of us actually uphold the bond supposedly formed when we take the invite into being an associate of a family? To me it seems that the new faces off the boat are completely naive to this and so their mind is not in this thing of ours but elsewhere. 

This new, growing relationship one holds with their associated family, their city and even to the unwritten code of omerta is surprisingly controversial. However, before I get lost in a running of words, let me cut to the chase. This supposed bond formed between you and your family after you accept your place as an associate, what does it mean to you?

Is it something you brainwash your offspring with, keeping in mind there is a good chance of them meeting their maker way before their time? Maybe, an unwavering display of undying loyalty, short of overzealous. Then again, there's a fine line between courage and stupidity, it's a common sight today.

Is the bond between you and your leader a thing of the past when you meet your end? Should your children carry the torch and continue the bond with the family that brought the food to the table? If they chose otherwise, would it betray their own bloodline and the heart and soul of This Thing of Ours?

I simply can't grasp the many outlandish decisions I've seen throughout my time and those listed in my bloodlines journals. To me, many take the family bond as something that is merely optional, something that is an outdated concept. I see it as where many only see families simply as crews and Head Quarters as simply shelters from bullets and nothing else. What happened?

Right now, we are seeing a point of transition in our thing.  Before the war, things were fairly stable and set in stone for the most part.  The fresh faces were few and far between while Godfathers SammyG, Phil, and Deadly stood tall.  Now, we have seen a complete flip in the structure of the cities, and people are eager to see where they fit.  There are many options spread across the cities and nearly all of the families are recruiting heavily I'll bet.  As time progresses you will see people start to find where they fit best.  You will see less suicides, ship jumping, and all around shenanigans. 

Every time there has been a major power change in our thing it is followed by a massive period of unrest and resettling.  It takes leaders time to get a reign on their new responsibilities, it takes time for their hands to find their niche, and it takes the general population time to see which team fits them best.  If you find your new home early?  Great.  Stick with them and give them your soul.  If you haven't found home yet I wouldn't worry.  Time is the healer of all wounds.  I can say that most families would rather have 15 hardcore loyal members as opposed to 40 people who are on the fence about where they should be and who they should be fighting for. 

I have seen this talked about in many generations of my family's diaries.  I believe it has been increasing and not only during periods of great upheaval.  It used to be the normal thing to continue to fight after your CL died, now it is more normal to join another family even if a demotion in rank will occur.  Often, I have read mentions of a new auth and members of other families offing themselves so ther descendant may come to this new leader.

I find both offensive to the loyalty code of mafioso.  When you join a family, even the lowest associate knows it is supposed to be for life. Certainly once someone is made and even above, there should be absolutely no question.  I believe this has come about partially due to leaders who accept the newly unsponsored and other leaders as well who turn a blind eye to it.  Of course we don't want our Gods upset by the massacre of huge numbers in this thing of ours either.  

What is the answer?  People wiser then I am would need to decide that but the trend needs to be looked at by our leaders and some compromise reached.  Friendships, coffee shop relationships need to be kept out of the equation.  Leaders perhaps need to stand up more about people suiciding to join them and not take them in.  When a person is new to the shores and it is found out that he has asked for an invite from more then one family, perhaps realizing that is a sin of how good their loyalty will be as they obviously have not done the necessary research to potentially find the right fit.  But right fit or not, your CL's blood is shed, so should yours be.

As Danny walks down the street he hears a few people discussing a topic that he has often thought about.  It's been something that he has been confused about in the past so he waits his turn, and then steps up to try to verbalize his thoughts.

This is a great topic, Sioux.  It's not so much whether the loyalty expires....its who, or better yet, what are we loyal to.  On the surface it seems that we should be loyal to the actual people in our family.  However, our ultimate loyalty resides with the family first, and the members of the family second.  When we take the oath, we know that the family always comes first.  Not our sponsor, not the crew leader, not the associates.  But the family.  It is a very tricky relationship that we have within this thing of ours.  At all times we know that our best friend might be called upon to put a bullet in our head.  Likewise, if someone close to us steps out of line, we know that we may be called upon to do the same.  So I've always been confused with the idea of loyalty to the members of the family.  Loyalty and trust go hand in hand.  How are we completely loyal when we must always be looking over our shoulder?  I've never been in a family that I didn't feel loyal to, my current one included.  But its just the nature of the beast.  One hundred percent loyalty, but always keeping one eye behind you, one eye in front of you, and one eye to each side of you.  It's a crazy world.  But its one that we have all chosen.

Danny steps away shaking his head.  He still doesn't fully understand this thing of ours.  He just knows to protect The Family, himself, and then the members of his family.  The order of protection can never change.

Without a doubt loyalty is one the key defining factors that remove us from the common thugs that drag their knuckles in the mud and fight old ladies.

It should be expected of a mafioso to understand that once they are given a home they owe their allegiance to that crew leader until either they are given their own establishment, or they are killed.

We join a family not a small time gang, but a tight- knit, business orientated criminal establishment, the desire for loyalty and indeed the need for it are both mandatory and expected.

The issue with disloyalty seems to me a two way street. Firstly, mobsters need to understand the effect of disloyalty which is, of course, death. There is little room for mistakes in this way of life and it is by no means profitable to have a weak link in the family that could jeopordise the safety of the entire crew.

This much is clarified in crew rules and drilled into new mobsters from the moment their feet touch the concrete.

Secondly, leaders need to understand the penalty for a disloyal member in their family. It is never going to end well if you have a mobster working for you whose head is in two minds about where his loyalties lie. Most leaders, if I am not mistaken, reinforce disloyalty with death, and it is important for the leaders to communicate with other leaders about a disloyal member who tries to "hop families" or buy out. They will be a liability in the long run for whomever they serve unless the change in families was a perfectly reasonable situation and supported by the upper structure.

I do not think it is a thing of the past, because loyalty does not have an expiry date. However, bringing something like this up highlights the diligence that crew leaders need to excercise, especially in this time, towards their mobsters. Ensuring that they treat their mobster's loyalty with the same importance as the consequence of a members loyalty will ultimately reap. 

I'm honestly baffled by some of the responses to this speech. Not invite the children of mobster's that suicides? That's another form of blood lining. Every new name is a clean slate. Loyalty like everything else in a mobster's life expires with death.

I am not sure if it is my part of this discussion you are addressing or not Mikhala but if it is:  I am not proposing any form of blood-lining,  I was speaking of the particular new leader whom the mafioso's parent had suicided deliberately so their descendant could join that leader.  In most of those cases I have heard or read about, the leader is aware that the situation is going to happen unless he/she says no to it, or if not aware until the descendant shows up and tells him, then that particular leader should not invite.  Sometimes it takes a hard lesson like that to teach someone's bloodline about issues such as loyalty.  The leaders who know ahead of time that someone is going to suicide to join them, or even encourage it should also learn that this issue is not going to go away unless they stop being part of the equation. 

I disagree completely with the whole suicide idea in an case.  If your current family and you are not a good match, go to your leader and talk, either it can be fixed or if not, as a last gesture of respect, you give the family the shot.

Please note, I am speaking either hypothetically or from information gleaned in reading ancestor's diaries, no one specific to our current population.

Not inviting a mobster because his or her parent suicided is blood lining because it's punishing the next of kin for the actions of the parent. I understand this issue is really about families losing members because of suicides. This happens every time new leaders set up. I have a different view on it, if a member is so unhappy about working with me I don't want to work with them. I want to see loyalty in action. Members usually work harder and kick up more money if they like the family they're in. During a war if I need a prowack I don't want a member to hesitate. Members are not going to work hard, contribute and follow orders without hesitation if they feel like prisoners. Loyalty is much more than a person's presence in a HQ.

I totally agree with that, but as I said - as a final gesture - go to your leader first and give the family the shot.  I still, however, disagree with the whole "Oh, I am setting up tomorrow, want to come" - "Sure, I'll off myself when I see you set up" between friends.  There has been many a time in my ancestor's past that they have seen good friend's authed but their loyalty remained to the family that had taken them in, bonded with them, cared for them and made them part of a whole.

Though our bloodlines are fairly new in MR this is a Topic very familiar to us for a long time. As someone said earlier we are different from the common thugs as we operate on a strict code of conduct. And the base of that is the loyalty and the respect. A family here is similar to your own family - you cant choose that and they choose you. If you belong to that family then you will become part of 'they' in the earlier sentence. 

The disloyalty in This thing of ours is always punished by death as without the loyalty there is no good that we can see in a person. Disloyalty in individual case is with the person who betrays but if it is happening in large scale then there is something wrong with the leadership as well. In many online games I played, I have seen lot of leadership issues recently. More and more people hold the positions just because they have ranked up. I wish all leaders have the basic knowledge required to be a leader(Pls. at least read and understand the quotes of Sun Tsu ;)) as they make these games interesting and make their followers so loyal even to die for the common cause.

When it comes to Districts here - it is a new thing but can be very interesting if the district leaders take a personal interest in developing the comradery in that district and inculcate a sense of belonging in all players who have ranked passed the level of Consiglier by way of weekly or fortnightly meetings - mails or some sort of activity where everyone feel they are part of that district.

While blood is thicker than water, blood also tends to thin over time in some.