So, this is how it works in the West Side. You're invited to work for us an associate. The jury's out on you. Put in hard work for a few days and maybe you'll be rewarded with some kind of 'living' on friendly turf. You might get asked to run a whorehouse, be a driver or crack some skulls at the local bakery. Time passes and your face becomes more recognised. People know you, and there's a little buzz around. Will you get made? When?

Well, for that to happen first your Underboss and his closest advisors need to unanimously agree that you deserve the honour. Then, your underboss comes to me and I must agree. I'll be honest here, rare will be the times when I disagree with my Underboss' judgement of someone he knows better than me, it's yet to happen. The process exists purely so my button guys can walk the streets with pride - knowing their Godfather has personally green-lighted their promotion. Just because I've agreed doesn't mean they get a button their lapel right away, though. First, they must be able to point to another Made Man in the west side, who must say 'Yep, I vouch for this guy; if he fucks up I acknowledge I'm gonna have a tough time for a while'.

In short, being a Made Man is, to me, more important than hard work, donations or ability. All of those things are worthless if the Wise Guy looking to be inducted doesn't inherently understand the value and importance of family ties. If that Wise Guy cannot find a single person in my district to vouch for them, if they cannot forge these unbreakable bonds with their compadres, then they are not made man material.

Why do I tell you this? Well, here is an absolute truth: Made Man is not as difficult to obtain as it used to be. This is not up for debate. It is cold, hard fact. What is up for debate is whether the rank is now worth less, whether it is less prestigious.

Let me ask you something, if you saw a thug who you knew was being earmarked from birth  for a leadership role; how would you feel? I mean, sure, it happens but it is still rather rare. That's not the question I'm asking though. If I authed a Leader tomorrow and said 'This man was going to be a Leader since before he was born, regardless of who else he leapfrogs. I arranged it with his father in the coffeeshops'. How would you react? I could guess how, I think.

Now, let me ask the more venerable mobsters a similar question(and let's have an honest answer here). When you first involved yourself in our life; did you see a made man promotion as a 'when' rather than an 'if'? I'll go first. I did. I stepped off the boat from Marseille and sought out faces familiar to my relatives. Nevertheless, I worked for a Leader I'd never worked with before and it still never crossed my mind that I wouldn't get Made, I saw it was an inevitability. Not necessarily, a right per se, but certainly not a privilege, either. I compare this attitude with my own distant ancestors who viewed the honour with such fierce pride and the change is boggling.

Now, naturally, I think this ingrained attitude is a problem. Obviously I do, because my policies in the West Side reflect this. Let me be clear though, this is not a problem that is anyone's fault. It is a problem that has simply been inherited through the ages like a snowball gathering pace.

At least, that's how I see it. A young man in my district claimed the opposite; evolution. It is not a problem which is getting steadily worse, it is simply that our lifestyle is changing and if we look back we'll never go forward. I'm accused of trying to hold people to standards that no longer apply. It was never the rank that was so hallowed, I'm told, it was just that in years past, the time it took to earn made man and the lower life expectancy is what gave that impression. The rank itself? Nothing special, apparently!

Now, call me an old, romantic, rose-tinted spectacle wearing fool, but I'm not having that. If we compare this thing of ours to any other criminal organisations; it is the sense of honour-among-thieves that sets us apart. It is the the infamous hierarchy and renowned ranks and positions that make us the envy of the underworld. If we admit that was all a veneer, if we say that Made Man is just another rung on the ladder; what separates us from any other 2 bit criminal?

I must agree with you sir.

It seems nowadays the prestigious rank of mademan has lost its value. I remember reading journals from my bloodlines, where men where made to work hard, promote themselves and their families.Visit the streets and interact with locals. The rank meant you had reached a level of respect within your family and community. When you had this respect people where ready to vouch for you. Then and only then did you get handed your button. 

I see nowadays many believe its a sense of entitlement.  Why is that?

Do I believe over time we lost our way a little? I believe we did. But I am happy you raise these questions because it makes us think about where we are going wrong and how we can correct this.

Kilgore pinched the crown of his hat and lifted it off of his skull, paying his respect with a downward nod. Returning the fedora to his head, he shifted it high above his ears before speaking.

Godfather Cantona, you share with us the steps you take to ensure that getting pinned is more than a rubber stamping process, and this is a good start. But the rank in itself is not the prestige. True, becoming a Made Man grants you inclusion into bigger deals, bigger jobs, and earning a larger keep, but how much does one's life really change on the day he gets Made? I've spoken elsewhere-- and quite negatively --about the concept of entitlement. However, I will admit now that when a man gets Made, that's when entitlement does, and should, come into play.

Can the Made Men of your organization take to the streets with the knowledge that, sparing any colossal fuck ups, their words are backed by the weight of a Godfather? Would you put any substantial amount of your wealth and prosperity on the line to protect them or vindicate them?

Now the real question: Would you do the same for a Wise Guy? Even if that Wise Guy was your brother's son?

There used to be an understanding in this business, and maybe there still is on some level, that until you made your bones, you were just a warm body. You filled a slot, stood in line, and acted as a human shield if it came down to it. Cash cow. Work horse. Drug mule. See the theme? Take the title in its most literal sense. When you got your button, it made you a man in this thing of ours. Only then do you get the full respect and consideration of your peers.

From the moment you pick up dead daddy's gun to the moment you get pinned into the Family, you're constantly paying dues. That's why our forefathers structured it this way, and something I sincerely hope doesn't get lost to time. This is, after all, a family business not unlike any other. Say your old man ran a restaurant, and there was no question from the day you were born that he was gonna hand it over to you some day. You're literally bred and groomed to take over. Yet you still spend your teenage years washing dishes, sweeping floors. That's the method, and there's a good reason for it. If you don't know the bottom, you're useless at the top.

Two_Taps listens intently, nodding along with what Godfather Cantona has to say and smiling as he talks about the old days. He steps out in the front and starts to applaud.

​Well said sir, dam well said. I pretty much agree with every word you have said. My own personal ancestry is old but not long, see my family left this world for quite some time, trying to go straight, make it as a farmer in Ireland, and while the life was peaceful, it was unfulfilled, boring and needing excitement. So i decided to get on the boat at Cork docks and i havent looked back. Any way im getting side tracked, My great grand father was the first to get made, roughly 7 years ago working for then Don Scotland. That was a proud proud moment in my family's history, and the story is still told round the dinner table. 

So Not so long ago my Great boss Cantillon promoted myself to Made Man, and to say i was over joyed is an understatement, i thanked him high and low and stood on top of the roof tops in the suburbs in Chicago with a big yeee-haa. I was so proud, with my shiney button i felt on top of the world.

What i have come to notice is the major difference in attitude to me now, and my great grand father becoming made. Now I am not saying that i noticed a bad attitude with myself becoming made, not at all, but when my grand father became made, some fellow mafioso not even in my grand fathers family noticed he had got his button.

As i started off saying my blood line may be short, but it does go back, and maybe because it is short i can clearly see the difference in being made back then and being made now. 

I still honestly feel that we all deep down do know what being made is all about, we all appreciate what it means, and when we come across our fellow mafioso, and we see that they are made, you naturally hold them in a higher regard, more respect. 

Galvani listens in and takes in this information...

I will also have to agree, in these streets today the ranks have been looked at as a "gimme" rather than earning it. My bloodline always worked hard for the position and never once complained if I wasn't promoted, even if I was due for a promotion. I believe the way it used to be when my great grandfather was alive was the way to go. It took a lot to be promoted : interviews, scenarios and much more were given to him in order for his next promotion. 

Blaise played with her leather gloves as she listened to everyone speak. Nodding her head in agreement, she reflected on what she felt being Made was all about. When there was a lull in conversation amongst the small gathering of people, Blaise looked at the small gathering of people and started to speak.

I admit that I too looked at the coveted Made Man rank as something that would come eventually, and not just a maybe. I like to think it's because I have read enough of my ancestors' history to know how to avoid the obvious mistakes that keeps people from being held indefinitely. I still had to work for it however, and it was something to look forward to.

However, I have noticed that people who do not have as strong of a tie to this world view Made Man in the same way - something that they know they will get eventually. Part of the reason is, it is easier nowadays for someone to know when they will be up for a promotion. If there are not rules and a code in place that lets potentials know that just because they did a few crimes or moved some drugs doesn't mean their promotion is guaranteed, then their family heads will have something to deal with when they pester them about the "when".

Made Man is not only a rank of respect, but it's also a level of trust that has been reached. A trust that the person can handle the additional responsibilities of la famiglia.

Part of the issue we have in today's world is that many pride ourselves on being accessible to every member of the family, unlike of years past where it was impossible to know intimately every member who resided in the same headquarters that you did due to the sheer size and number of people in it. This accessibility has lulled too many of us into a false sense of security, giving off the illusion that we "know" or "trust" someone because we have seen these people around, talked to them, shared a cup of joe or a game of poker with them. Sometimes we forget that just because they "seem" to be good people, doesn't mean we would trust them with our lives and livelihood, which is exactly what getting Made Man means.

If we say that Made Man is just another rung on the ladder, then how high must we climb before ranks start to mean something?

My eternal apologies for not getting around to responding here sooner; I have unfortunately had some business that has taken me away from my interests in the West Side over the past couple of days.

Can the Made Men of your organization take to the streets with the knowledge that, sparing any colossal fuck ups, their words are backed by the weight of a Godfather? Would you put any substantial amount of your wealth and prosperity on the line to protect them or vindicate them?

They absolutely can. I may not agree with what they are going to say but I will defend to the death their right to say it. For me to pin a button on a man's chest is a declaration. It is a symbolic gesture that shows I trust them, that I can rely on them; to then police everything they say would be a huge hypocrisy. There is, of course, a line in the sand. The promotion to Made Man is optional, if one wishes not to take it then I will not force it upon them and there will be no hard feelings. Simply put, I expect more of my made men. They will be held to a higher standard, I will assume them to have the ability to speak succinctly and to be more nuanced as far as street activity goes; if someone doesn't want to be held to that higher standard then I have no problem with that. None at all.

Of course, if they do take the promotion and act in a way that I feel brings disrepute on my district, I will bring them down. In other words, it's not what you say, but how you say it. Were a Made Man of mine to agree with my own views but put them across in a way that was insulting to others, I would bring them down. Conversely, Helix (who at the time was a made man) was unequivocal in his dislike of the contest in Staten Island; the way he phrased his opposition meant that I had no problems with him at all.

Now the real question: Would you do the same for a Wise Guy? Even if that Wise Guy was your brother's son?

No. My oldest friends and compadres generally tend to come from a lineage of well respected and extremely accomplished mobsters. This coupled with the fact I want to make it demonstrably clear that everyone in my district is judged on their own merits means I am probably a little harsher on my brother's son, if anything.

Ultimately; the associates understand their position. They are hired help. They're the people who die for no reason in a war. When the son of a Made Guy comes and complains about his daddy's death, they are turned away with a clip around the ear. When it's the son of an Earner, I can honestly sympathise with their anger; but that's just the way it is. Money flows up, shit flows down and the associates will always get the slimy end of the stick.

If this sounds like I don't value my associates, well that is not the case. Ultimately, the associates are the foundations, the cornerstones of any district. You cannot build a house without any foundations, no? But I do value my Made Men more, and so I should. If an associate has a button pinned to his lapel and finds no discernible change, that he is not treated any differently now, then he will begin to question what the big fuss is all about. That is not how it should be.

Now, most of the other comments from others here seem to echo the thoughts of my original sentiments, but there is one throwaway mark I'd like to pick up one that sums things up rather neatly, I hope you don't mind if I pick on you Mr. Galvani; you were unlucky enough to unwittingly summarise what many have thought.

My bloodline always worked hard for the position and never once complained if I wasn't promoted, even if I was due for a promotion

That's the money shot. 'Even if I was due for a promotion'. You were a Wise Guy, an associate, and you made the decision that you were due a promotion. That's not how it works. You may have done the right thing by not complaining but you certainly weren't thinking the right thing. Just because your buddy at the FBN lets you know you can get away with carrying 25 units of drugs without getting caught doesn't mean you're made man material; your leader and their advisors make that choice - and no one else!

Gosh shut the fuck up already Cantona what are you like 12?