E-40 walks out of his home and sees a man giving a speech on a small podium, and decides maybe he should say a few words today. 40 walks onto the stage after the man finishes.

E-40 clears his throat, and begins to speak

"I have had a long lineage of mafioso in my bloodline. Every single one of them has died as they tried to make it to the top of this world. I have seen other mafioso do the same, and I have come to tell you something that you will need to know. The world of the Mafia has no mercy at all. I believe this Mafioso life lives under this saying: Nice Guys finish last, Bad Guys finish first. If you are too nice in this life, you will die for it. While if you take down others while you can, and spare no one and show no mercy, then you shall indeed rise to the top. I have learned this first hand, and witnessed it as well."

E-40 waits for some of the applause to go down, before continuing

"Now, this isn't a speech to criticize anyone! I'm not calling anyone out on being a Nice Guy or Bad Guy, all I'm saying is there are Nice Guys and Bad Guys in this world, and the Bad Guys usually turn up alive at the top, while we all visit the Nice Guys at their funerals."

40 pauses again, before finishing his speech

"For those of you thinking I am just saying nonsense, I invite you to take a close look at future events to occur, and you will notice that what I say is true. I would like to hear your opinions on this matter whether you believe me or not. To those of you aspiring to live long in this world, you may want to pay attention to this words, and pay attention to past, and future events. And always remember: Nice Guys finish last, Bad Guys finish first"

E-40 steps off the podium, and heads back into his house

After hearing E-40's speech, Jodie decides to comment.

I personally don't believe that in this life of ours we have "Good Guys". We are all criminals...which automatically makes us "Bad Guys".

As for those who end up on top, those mafiosos are the smartest. The smartest people get the furthest in this life of ours. They have a mixture of charisma, intelligence and good planning on what they want to be done. They put together a well thought out plan to get them to the top. Sure, some peoples feeling may be hurt, relationships demolished, but it is simply because they are out smarted.

The person who is "At the top" is the smartest, not the baddest.

Jodie smiles at E-40.

E-40 nods in agreement, then makes a statement

"We are all criminals, but by good guys, I mean the Nice Guys, are the ones who are always giving handouts, and trying to be the nice/cool one in everyones eyes, instead of having to say no to some."

-Swell- steps out of the shadows after hearing E-40's intriguing speech

E-40 seems like you are conflating nice people with doormats. Leaders have to have some nice qualities otherwise no one would follow, however there has to be a balance of carrot and stick.

Diablos thinks to himself if he has ever said no to someone and sighs..

"I guess I'm screwed."

Diablos looks down at the floor. At that moment a strange man walks up to him and asks for some spare change..

"NO!"

Diablos smiles happily knowing now that he is no longer a nice guy.

Yes the nice guys I am speaking of, are the ones who try to be liked by everyone, and are afraid to say no, and do bad deeds, because they dont want to be disliked by people. Those are the ones who will not make it far.

Gwarble waits whilst the speakers before him provide their input to the discussion. It was an intriguing scenario, was it always the bad guy who succeeded? Gwarble didn't think so. There was more to it than that in his eyes. He decided to offer his thoughts.

Arguably the most revered Godfather of all time, Deimne, was arguably one of the nicest as well. So, there are exceptions to this rule and it isn't just about being bad, immoral or unscrupulous. The real trait that most people who aspire to the big chair and never actually get their behinds into it lack is ruthlessness.

It takes a certain kind of person to be able to make the tough calls, live with the fallout and then several days/weeks/months later, repeat it all over again. You ultimately have to ask yourself who or what you are in our business for. Are you in our business to make enough to provide your kids with more opportunities than you had or are you in our business so that your great, great Grandkids don't ever need to work?

The smartest people don't automatically ascend to the top either. It certainly helps if you're a genius rather than a bumbling fool, but it isn't the be all end all. Don't get me wrong, you can't lick windows by day and run your criminal empire by night either, but I can think of some pretty…special…people who've had the big seat. What they all had though, even the most basic of them, was a ruthlessness to hold onto it. That is ultimately what separates those who aspire, those who briefly cling and those who leave their mark forever. You have to be prepared to pre-empt your enemies, which a lot of people refuse to do and they eventually regret it. You have to be prepared to be hated, prepared to be insulted, prepared to be targeted and still make those same calls.

Maybe you interpret ruthlessness as the trait of a "bad guy"? I'm not sure. I don't think it is indicative of anything other than a future successful mobster.

Don was stood listening to the first speech and was just about to leave before E-40 stepped to the podium, the mentioning of good and bad guys stopped him in his tracks and as such he felt inclined to voice his thoughts. He threw his cigarette to the floor and stamped it out before speaking.

You definitely have a point Mr 40, the only thing is it seems pretty black and white in the way it has been put...

Now as an example I'm sure Deimne, God rest his soul, was a friendly and very reasonable man, now i cant prove this because i never had the opportunity to speak to the man but what I'm saying is that people and their dispositions may vary.

It is very possible that the most kind and easy to get along with person could one day turn around and take out an entire city out of nowhere... He or she might of simply done this because they could and wished to expand their business. Vice versa, a bad guy, who tends to be completely confrontational and abit of an ass towards everyone he sees fit, could be taken out in his sleep (Crazynine perhaps?)

Now I'm not saying that you don't have a point, because no one here can honestly say that without taking risks and crushing your enemies when the oportunity reveals itself can you advance, but that this thing of ours isn't quite so simple as you have explained.

Don sparks up another cigarette whilst waiting to be addressed.

Diablos then turns his attention to E-40

"My friend, I agree with you to a certain extent. However what Jodie said I think is much more accurate. The ones that are giving out handouts like you said are the ones who are considered nice guys, fair enough everyone can be nice however those nicer people are the ones more likely to be taken advantage of."

"To get far in this life you do definitely have to say no and stick by your word. But once again the wise ones are the ones who are at the top of this world at the end of the day."

"You bring a great point to the streets though my friend and I applaud you for that."

Diablos smiles at E-40 and makes his way towards his car.

E-40, though your ideology may have substantial backing by short term events, I believe - in the long run - those who are "bad" and rise to the top eventually suffer repercussions - especially in their future generations.

True, a ruthless individual might outlive one who died doing the right thing, but what about their sons? The "bad" mafioso may in the end find his bloodline tarnished with a sour reputation and be distrusted. The one who died doing what was right might find his son with more opportunities - leaders never forget the ones who died for them and the ones who went into hiding.

40 rubs his chin in deep thoughts

You guys are right, I do believe I did make it seem Black and White. By Bad Guys i didnt mean completely ruthless, and unforgiving, and at the same time, by nice guys, I didnt mean they were pussies who did everything they were told, and gave everything they were asked. I see everyone's opinions on this now.

I'll offer up my opinion even if you already know it. Sam laughs a bit. Just a little humour there, not trying to be Mrbadguy or anything. I think your observation could be taken many different ways. You could be talking about ruthlessness in war, but I would opine that the last one hardly carried the scorched earth policies of previous administrations. So not as bad of guys at least. Or you could be talking about the sort of actions Godfather TheDean took, I would only point out that sometimes the guy in the room you marginalize is holding the keys to the kingdom. That doesnt make him a bad guy, just a real smart one. And Jodie was right on about the smart guys. Or you could be talking about people who were or are simply mean and ornery to deal with whether that be in the streets or coffeeshops. Whatever axes they have to grind will usually get ground and that doesn't really make them bad either. Sam lights up a smoke and gives the Las Vegas Capo a cocky grin. But I don't think you meant any of that Mr. E-40. I think the real issue here is the Nice Guy or gal as you know him or her. Marietta was a nice girl, sweet as sugar with a side of honey she was. Nobody kept her down, she finished first too. I think you might be confusing being a nice guy with allowing respect to diminish. I can see where being too nice to too many people could allow this to happen. I always notice it with some of the young thugs, they try too get to friendly with you too fast. It is at that moment you must draw the line, it's not being mean or a bad guy, it's not giving away the power you have already gained in the name of being nice.  Sam shrugs. Could be anyway, I been wrong before.