Michael entered the street to preach on what he thought was an important topic. Afterall it was the season for the local known average criminal, to be looked over for membership into the ranks of a real criminal organization.

As a Captain based out of Detroit, I have good and bad things to say about this new generation of mafiosi. The common crictism is that the young petty criminal on the street wants all the trappings of a successful mafioso but aren't willing to put in the work needed to earn them. These young thugs just don't want to pay their dues anymore.

Which isn't suprising. Many members of this new generation are growing up demanding hand outs, and its us thats giving it to them. Consequently, the idea that you might actually have to earn success through hard work has gotten lost on many millennials. To me paying your dues means putting in the time and work to attain the dream we're all chasing. To one day be powerful and rule the world. Right? Well when you're moving from point A to point B, it doesn't matter if point B is being a rock star; you've got to pay your dues to get there. Here's why.

You have to start somewhere.

Remembering his old neighborhood...

I still know a couple of guys from the local hood I grew up in, who are still living in their parent's basement. Because they don't get the fuck out and do what all of us higher folk had to do to get where we got to be. They expect to be taken into the ranks right when they've met certain requirements. Requirements should be a standard. You should excel and pass the standard, not just meet it.

These set requirements that are floating around might be a good tool but they aren't good for the general public. Overall, everyone might make the requirements to join the ranks in our world, but do they really deserve it? My answer is no. The men who are in power to this day all started working at the "bottom" level to get the experience to move up the pyramid.

You've got to start somewhere and pay your dues to move up in this world.

Michael leaves the street hoping some fellow mafiosi hear his words and take them to heart.

Willi walks over to hear this speech and decides to speak up.

You could not be more right sir. I know from family history that meeting a general standard is not good enough for most families, yet people seem to think when that standard is met, they should automatically be ranked. I have heard many a wise guy moan and complain because they havent been Made yet. Tough shit. Being Made is one of the greatest honors you can receive, yet it just seems like many young thugs think it should be handed to them on a silver platter. Being a wise guy myself I know the hardship of trying to impress your boss and be all I can be. I honestly can say I work hard, but I do not in any reason expect to be Made. What you have said here today is the truth and a revealing truth about the young mafioso coming into our world. Thank you for voicing the opinion I could not seem to put into words as well as you did.

Willi walks off down the street with a feeling of relief and accomplishment.

In reply good sir id like to say my piece. I understand your concerns and these concerns have plagued our world for a long time, however it’s something a lot of people have come to expect. It’s hard to police this kind of thing as many of our fathers before us have so many connections, I.E. the higher members of this world, so inevitably our kins our looked after.

I put it to you as this, we can see the position that your in as a CL, ok so if your gun malfunctions or we war’d against you, when your son or daughter return and someone offers you 20 million to rebuild your life would you turn your nose up at it, I for one would not for sure.

On the flip side to that I would argue that my father made his bones, but then the questions arrives we shouldn’t judge each other on our kins actions, well like the question you put before us, this is something that always happens and will always happen.

I do however agree that “new off the boat”, for lack of better words, do have it a little too easy. I think that’s down to us as a crime world, it’s the necessity to improve family ties and the quality of family members, which when you think about it is in the CL’s interest, so in turn probably not such a bad thing if you look at the whole picture, providing that longevity of this new member is sincere.   

There are many actions as CL’s and higher members can take to make it worth while, for example my father run with a crew once were he was set tasks, a number of them he had to pass to get his button and these were not your everyday requirements, but actual tasks.

These are all just the oppinion of a wise guy passing buy.

if you cant work hard enough for your CL's standard your in the wrong family,wrong profession being made is a big step yet people think they can demand it? Wrong...the amount of gangsters these days sitting on their ass with two hands out as if they deserve to be pampered all their life?

how many of us remember the stories of our fathers and gradfathers starting from the bottom and working as hard as they could!

no matter who you are or who you know if you cant work hard enough dont bother in my opinion

Lloyd; in an ideal  world this would and should be common practice, but we don’t live in a world were all things are fair, we live in a corrupt world, a world that you do what you need to do to get by and to make it. I’m absolutely all for working hard and working your way up from scratch but to be blunt that attitude just does not cut it, in my humble opinion,.

We all have had help along the way, whether it is on a mass scale such as somebody making sure you’re well protected or something that you may not think is significant, like someone you know sending you a message about certain drug prices in a certain city.

So we build our lives on the help of other people, ok mostly on our own behalf’s but we do ask for help all the time, it’s the natural thing to do. I believe in hard work and I also believe that you get out what you put in, but its naïve to think that hard work alone gets you to the dizzy heights of this world.

I don’t think it’s as simple as you put it. (Respectively)   

when is anything simple  space_pole?

all im suggestion is like you say...put as much effort in as much as you wish to receive,if you cant do the basics dont ask for the special treatment.

If your spoiled for to long you forget how you made it to the big time you think its always going to be an easy run,because one day you might find your alone in a strange world where friends dont surround you...thats when you have to prove yourself

Michael listens to the young criminals as they make their respected opinions...

Success comes from tiring hard work.

Another thing I wanted to bring up, which is currently knocking on our door during this conversation. As you guys may have said, the work you put in should reciprocate. But should it really?

Its the Boss's head that gets chopped off if one of his Made guys fucks up. A member of his organization speaks for the rest. Atleast, thats how I view it. And should be viewed by all I think. Trust is the most important key here. Trust is built over time, over hard work. As a Captain I look at my members and see the work they put in. I look over their work before they think its finished. After so long of doing this, they will know what I expect from them. I can rely on them as they can rely on me. And that's where they'd be expected to take the oath.

space_pole, I hear your arguement about the next of kin being vauled and protected. It's been practiced as long as sexual intercourse has been. This is nothing new. I would have to say if I was given the opportunity to have that kind of protection, I would deny it. I don't like hand outs. I'm proud to start off in the gutter as many others should be.

I may have went a bit off topic.

Looks down at his brown bag. His lunch was getting cold.

What I'm trying to send out here to the newer folk is that don't just expect to meet the standard and be accepted as a full member. You should stand out. You should stand out like a sore thumb. You should stand out like the only white guy at an all black night club.

thanks the heavens

im not disagreeing totally with space_pole but what michael says is just about spot on in my opinion 

 "one day you might find your alone in a strange world where friends dont surround you...thats when you have to prove yourself"

Even the people who are, let’s say connected, they still have to prove themselves everyday, what do you think a CL has to do or a GF for that matter. I wouldn’t call it special treatment as such it just relates to the world we live in, it basically and purely the way things work.

So you’re trying to tell me that from an early age if a GF comes to you and says he has heard great things about you, he is going to give you the edge from this early age and get you protected etc, so when you get made you get to prove your self as a CL, that you would say no. This thing happens all the time, damn people even get demoted for this very purpose, rightly or wrongly it happens.

So my out look is just go with it, if you can say that you work hard, you do everything right and you are happy with the way you work, then what does it matter because to me it looks like you wouldn’t accept this kind of help if it was bestowed on you, then good on you, seriously I mean that, if you are were you want to be with out any kind of help then that’s very credible, I don’t know your families prowess around here so I don’t meant to sound belittling  or condescending.

For me it’s all about groundwork, its all about how my family line has performed and what business friends I make along the way, its all about helping and keeping my family line alive.

I just feel that we are a product of our own environment and therefore we adapt to them surroundings. Well I will distance myself from this circle now, I have had my said, I wish you good day.

a product of out environment indeed...they only hear good things about people if these people in question deserve the credibility they receive then by all means help them out like you'd like to be helped yourself, its a circle which consists of friendship and trust, i dont however go down that route as you have respectively mentioned but dont condemn it either do what you gotta do and all right?

as long as you deserve it then who im i to judge you...im only commenting by the codes i live by.

im glad you've enlightened me with this conversation space_pole

Good day

This is an interesting topic and quite relevant, a rare combination and I commend you for bringing it up Mr. LaMotta. A quick perusal of the copious notes left to me by long dead relatives shows an interesting pattern. Unless killed in a war early, or bummed out, every one of my ancestors was made or higher. Even the very first one to arrive on these shores was made. This is not to boast, only to help make the point. At some point the question becomes less about did I pay my dues and more how long are you going to keep me out of the family. In my own opinion, each time I decide to promote someone it should be arbitrary. I have long thought that we lose focus after the decision to make a person. I rarely ever saw a man or woman I thought shouldn't have been made, but maybe did see a Don or two that made me roll my eyes in the past. That is not to say that I take making a man or woman lightly, quite the contrary, I take the oath so seriously that I am comfortable laying my reputation on the line to make this person. But lets not forget, he/she swore allegiance to me, I didn't vouch for him/her to someone else. My job is to make money for the Boss of Philly, not die because some made man sworn loyal to me screwed up. It becomes the made man's job to do that for the guys he vouches for, to me. He's bringing in associates, he is trying to show how much money he can make so he might make it to capo someday. You could almost say that those made men have the most dangerous jobs. Not only does screwing up cost them, but bringing in the wrong guy could cost them even more. So in my view, paying of the dues really begins when you get made.

Sam smiles that winning smile.

Michael listens attentively to Sam's words.

As I listened to you Sam, I must say I agree in some aspects. Your views on promoting someone under your terms goes along with my own. It should be my matter of business. Giving someone their button entitles a lot to one's self. You are giving someone wings to fly. Not quite literally though...

You mention that the paying of dues really begins when you get made. So how does one become a Made guy then? The initiation shouldn't occur after being initiated but prior. You can even see this in the local colleges. You see young college kids going out to join a fraternity or even a sorority and put up with the countless deeds they must perform to win the vote to become a member. Theres a difference between a pledge and a member of the fraternity.

I'm not going to stand here and say we're similar to a local college frat because we aren't. But we may share similar practices during the search of new members. We push the promising recruit to see what they're made of. To pledge one's allegiance to this "thing of ours", they must be willing to do anything. This is the life of crime, and it can be dangerous. Murders and jail time isn't new to this way of life. Happens on a daily basis. They must be willing to do both and how do we know they're willing to? We test them.

The whole point of this conversation is how do we know someone is trustworthy and is able to put the organization before everything else? How do they pay their dues while they're on the track to becoming a member of a criminal organization?

Sam, what you brought up isn't irrelevant by any means but in need of a whole other public speaking.

I'm not sure I follow why my reply would need to appear in another debate, but as you are the initiator of the conversation I wont argue the point. As for being made I thought we were in agreement that it is and should be an arbitrary decision. Certainly I would agree that the mere presence of a button to push shouldn't mean you are made. But, I wouldn't presume to know whether a man who was made quickly had x number of jobs done and x dollars of earnings, or talked to the boss x number of hours a day. While those are certainly dues that need paying, I think they pale in comparison to the dues you owe once made. But I think at this point I have begun to repeat myself, good day everyone.