Well, I seem I have misunderstood, I thought she was speaking of prior knowledge to their bloodline, which is what I was referring to, of course through our time together we got to know each other better and I got to trust both of them. I even let them feed my dear Astro, can you tell how tight we got?

Archy winked at Tyrion before he continued

However, thank you for putting me back on track. Of course to each his own, but I believe that those 2 positions are very vital to the family, that some leaders would prefer the tight boundaries or relationships to hard work, but in some cases for the best of the business you chose the ones that work hardest and will benefit the family most or that's the way I see it.

I've never understood why hard work gets pushed aside so easily. What benefit is there to working hard for your leader if they just pick their tight relationships?

Yes, you do seem to have trouble understanding that Melis. You see, the tight relationships you speak of.. they work hard too. Very hard, usually. In fact, normally in my experience they work harder than anyone else because of that relationship, which is why it makes them a perfect fit to be by your side.

I know its hard to imagine that someone can be both a trusted friend and a hard worker, but it happens.

Yes well in some cases that may be true. I know that is not every case and there are exceptions to everything.

There are different situations and different views of every situation I suppose.

After listen to several people discuss his words, VladimirVoloshin emerges from the group of bodies that has gathered and returns returns to the front of the crowd after.

I want to further my point by saying that when I said you are not your father/mother, I did not mean that your parents' relationships can not help you.

What I am saying is this:

You're ancestry may help you or it may hurt you, but it will never GIVE you power. And when it really comes down to it, you're bloodline can hurt a lot more than help.

Da, I will agree that your mother, or grandfather, or sister's boyfriend's cousin's barber's ex-wife's nephew's best friend, may caste a shadow that lasts for generations. But that isn't my issue. Being weary of someone do to their parents' past is a wise action, as is trusting someone based on their parents' actions... Yet, that does not mean you equate to your parent's standing. That is the point to be made here. Relationships and friendships between bloodlines can last for generations, but that does not mean you hold the same weight as a goomba as your parent did, regardless of the fact that s/he was a Made Man or Godfather.

I also heard someone say something along the lines of wanting to change the way it is. Having bloodlines cross over from generation to generation. I say to you NO. That is not what we need. The way it was and is, is the way it is meant and should be. There seem to be a few people in recent months and even in the past year who seem to value themselves highly because they made Don once. That way have think has to go, because in order for our world to function, everyone must work hard, even the 7 day old gangster who feels as though he should be Chairman.

Hard work gets you positions. I've worked very hard to be where I am today, and have had relationships with heavily influential people over the years, yet I have been handed nothing because of it. I work for what I have, and the best way for our society to evolve for the better is for everyone to do so.

How can you expect there to be a clean slate with all the relationships stuff coming into play? I honestly don't think you can. It seems a bit far fetched which is where people believe that because of their parents, uncles, brothers, cousins etc that they should hold the same weight. There is no way to balance something like that properly. There will always be exceptions by someone at some point in time.

As for hard work this can be argued both ways.

First it can be argued that everyone should be working hard. It's true that if this was the case it would certainly benefit the family. It can be argued that hard work will gain you positions.

Now on the flip side we have heard that hard work doesn't necessarily get you anywhere. You could be one of the hardest working people and still not rise up. Instead you could watch your leader's best friend rise up instead because that's who they trust more than their hard workers.

And yes some friends will work hard for their friend leader and others will just ride the coat tails because they can.

There are always two sides of the coin. You will not get everyone to agree with just one side of the coin because as always there have been sightings of both instances in our community. If one is remembered more dominantly in memory then it is the side of the coin you are most likely going to argue.

I'd say that there is a fine balance between trust and hard work, the percentages of the two would depend on the leader I guess.