"Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before

Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before

Look at the shoes you're filling
Look at the blood we're spilling
Look at the world we're killing
The way we've always done before
Look in the doubt we've wallowed
Look at the leaders we've followed
Look at the lies we've swallowed
And I don't want to hear no more"

Ladies and gentlemen, truer words never been spoken. In a world of ours, where we learn to work and help to support one another; we also live in a world where your closest allies, friends, family are the ones that typically deliver the moment of our eternal wakening. So why are any of us surprised when it happens? So many times I've seen bloodlines forsake their kin simply because they are doing what we all signed up to do. And that is rise to the top, by ANY means necessary.

Sure one can make an argument of loyalty, but what is loyalty to you? In this thing of ours everyone has a different definition of loyalty. Some would say it is to follow orders, others say it means "going down with the ship", other seem to think it is standing by those you cherish, regardless of your family or standing within our society. Some may think it's all of the above regardless of any conflicts of interest. Others will only choose one of the above. So it seems which ever you choose, any party involved may not pleased when push comes to shove, and you are forced to make a choice.

How about loyalty for those with power? They have an obligation to protect their underlings. But yet so many times they are forced to either "remove" one of their protected or face a threat to all of their supported. In any fashion, is either decision REALLY loyalty? Do you stand by your underlings at all cost to protect them? Or do you act on the "greater good" philosophy to protect them? Either or could be viewed as both heroic or a break in a bond that your underlings swore to you and you swore to them.

Perhaps, loyalty is merely a 5 cent word used by those in power to maintain order among the chaos. Well, we currently see where that also gets us? How many "innocent" lives do you think have been taken in the past few days? Or are we all guilty the moment we sign up for this thing of ours and take the oath. Is it enviable that we will kill the ones we cherish (or be killed by them) or is it truly possible to ride out into the sunset in world of happy rainbows and pink fluffy bunnies where everyone gets along and their is everlasting peace? 

Joli walks in fingers at the bridge of her nose due to the headache beginning, hopefully not another migraine but only time would tell. She looked up at the man speaking, his words were wise, he asked questions that we all needed to stop, ponder, and decide what this chaos means for the future where we can make a better future and hopefully not repeat the mistakes made, but none the less we'd been through this before. Did the people forget? It seemed like it. She stood beside Tyrant and extended her hand.

"Loyalty. That's a heavy word in our time. What is loyalty to you? Renegade, respectfully your thinking is what is failing this world of ours. You don't join a crew unless you are willing to put your life on the line for them. That is what a crew is, it is your family, it is your future, your legacy. Your thoughts and actions should all be for your crew." Joli releases a sigh.....

"This is the mistake that we continue to make my fellow mafiosos, we are confusing our loyalties. I may be a nobody standing here talking to you, but my mother was somebody, My mother was an underboss to a respectable Godfather. She was loyal to her, their crew and their city. That's what loyalty needs to be. BUT.....unfortunately her Godfather hand her hands in a cookie jar, something she was unaware of, she was blindly loyal to someone who in fact was not being loyal to her and their crew. ProjectMayhem.  Crew Leaders need to open their eyes at the dangers of cult like behavior that ProjectMayhem, The Disorder Regime, and the many others in the past that have all lead to a great war and caused so many innocent lives to die......"

"CL's should not be travelling at all hours of the night for secret meetings with other CLs hundreds of miles away, you should be loyal to your people. If you're a crew leader in Chicago, you have no business being loyal to anyone out side of Chicago. Now wars do happen and yes the CL's need to come together to talk out peace, decide on a fair trade off for whatever the offense was, the goal being to avoid an all out war. That's what being in the mafia is, it requires negotiations, and trade offs. But those crew leaders need to remember their crew and put their crew and their city first and do what's best for them. All of these big cultist just care about themselves, anyone not apart of it is just a pawn and easily thrown out when they are not needed."

"We have experienced a cleansing with this all out war, this is our chance to make something different, something diverse. We all have friends in this world but we need to put our crews first. The cities need to be diversified and they need to stand alone. My family line makes friends all over, but at the end of the day, if you are threatening my crew, my crew leader, its people, my city. I will not hesitate to gun you down , because that is what loyalty is in the mafia, that is what we are, but we have strayed....."

Joli sighs again, hoping practically begging for the people to open their eyes and see these faults and try for something new....

" I can respect that Renegade, it seems like people with our mindset get killed in the end, when we have nothing to do with the situation at hand. It is truly saddening. I apologize maybe i misunderstood what I heard." Joli smiles at Renegade 

"If anything we just need to keep voicing our mindset. Staying in the shadows and being quiet, not speaking up against what continues to happen, is what is allowing it to happen in retrospect. I guess we wait and see after the chaos settles. If anything, If i catch on to my future crew having their hand in the cookie jar i'll leave and hopefully other mafioso will recognize the red flags and will also take a stance against it and walk away. We the people of this world cannot condone this anymore"

Emma slithers through the crowd and spots a man on the side of the road, obviously down on his luck, drinking out of a bottle of whiskey. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out twenty dollars. "Excuse me, can I buy that bottle from you? I'm in need of a stiff drink." Emma says and puts the twenty towards the man's hand. The man shrugs his shoulders, takes one last swig before handing her the bottle and taking the money. Emma stands there listening to the few she hears talking before her and takes big swigs out of the bottle before standing in front of everyone and putting her two cents in.
I agree with Renegade. When I join a crew, I'm not looking to be Loyal from the getgo. I may be lowlife gangster, but my loyalty, just the same as my respect must be earned. I refuse to take bullets for someone I don't know, nor respect. I am no dummy. I also agree with JoliBebe. If you're a crew leader and you make alliances with other crew leaders and pretty much say 'fuck off' to your actual family and the set you rep, how can anyone possibly respect that? Be respectable and reach out to your own family or they may become conveniently unavailable when shit hits the fan and you need their help.

Emma_Wright, you've surprisingly got it all wrong. Crew leaders should be loyal to their friends, not their families. 

Catch 22, sometimes being loyal to your friends is needed for the worlds benefit and prosperity. While at the same time how can you ever expect those under you to be loyal to you if you will willingly serve them up on a silver platter without hesitation.

Though my journal has noted situations in the past even as recent as what kick started this whole fiasco. Serana had people under her that Insomina and those pulling his strings didn't like due to whom their ancestors had been loyal to in the past. Protecting her own the whole city was removed.

There is no such thing as “should be” in this thing of ours.  In a way, nothing is true and everything is permitted.  The timeless and proverbial idea of loyalty above all is, has, and always will be a fallible one.  Loyalty and with it, service and sacrifice are immeasurable qualities that can only be tested with time.  

So to state what “should” be - what leaders or those who are sponsored “should” do is on its face... without.

I am sad to say that betrayal and the ability to endure... to survive.. is all we have.  

But I think surviving in itself is not an achievement.  Thriving and growth are also barely noteworthy.  

If greatness is what you seek, look not at the hourglass, but the sand.  

You will see that time is never a luxury you have to see it.