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| The Meaning of Life. | Started by: Heathcliff on Jan 25, '08 14:31 |
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It's been a day or so since I landed upon these shores, and I would say it's been quite successful - I've managed to earn myself a little playing money, found somewhere nice and clean, even if there is a bit of a cheesy smell to the place, and got myself some cool new threads... So, I wonder, what next? Sure, the most obvious goal would be to aim to reach the rank of Goomba. To do so, I am told that I should increase my crime rate, maybe break into the narcotics market, and possibly try freeing some of the more unfortunate from our line of work who have been incarcerated. All well and good, but why? What I mean is, what's the point of getting the next rank? And I'm not just talking about Goomba, I suppose I could be referring to any rank. Ok - you can do that little bit more in terms of being able to transport larger quantities of drugs, and you take yourself one step higher up the ladder. But what is your goal? It's all too easy to say, "one day I hope to be Godfather", or "One day I would like to run my own Family". But why do you? An ambition is a healthy thing for anyone to have - it gives us a reason for getting out of bed in a morning. But just supposing you achieve that ambition - what then? You have your own family, for example - do you rest upon your laurels? Are you content with that? Do you set a further goal....for example to be the dominant Family? If you do, the question in the end is why? What do you hope to achieve? What is the meaning of this speech? I have no idea, to be honest - maybe I'm trying to find out what drives each of us on...there must be a motivating factor, or bloodlines would cease to function in this particular society. I guess it can best be summed up by comparing our lives with those of the average civilian. They grow into adults, leave the nest, start work, buy a house, marry, and have children, and teach their children to be good people, and the cycle repeats itself. How is this similar to the life of a Mafioso? And how is it different? So many questions, I know...I don't have all of the answers, perhaps some of you do? |
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It is a basic instinct to succeed and to thrive. That's why we do what we do. Would one rather be a Gangster, or a Goomba? It's an easy question to answer. Benefits and ease of life. ...And women, some guys do it for the ladies. |
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| Reply by: Tollin at Jan 25, '08 14:44 | |
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I guess I'm trying to say this....aside from being able to deal more drugs - what do you actually do differently as you progress through the ranks? Without disrespecting anybody, I'm sure you get people who rank up, and yet their days remain exactly the same - commit a few crimes, deal some drugs etc...that to me is hardly motivation to gain rank. |
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| Reply by: Heathcliff at Jan 25, '08 14:48 | |
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| Motivation is what you seek? Sooner or later war will break loose, and a gangster cannot do much to protect his family. On the other hand, a Capo can. In the end you control more power. | |
| Reply by: Tollin at Jan 25, '08 14:53 | |
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Jillian pauses for a moment on her walk down to the local diner, studying Heathcliff as he speaks. With a deep breath she steps forward, giving a small smile to the tiny gathering of people. Sorry to interject, but I did have a thought. I think with each rank gain most people might possibly be looking for more prestige. There are many ways to prove yourself to a family, but if you are joining up with a crew that already has a solid foundation there may be a lack of outright ways to show them that you are worth the time they are providing to shelter you. I know, based off of observations, that approaching your Right Hand as a Gangster and offering your help in manner might leave a bit of an impression. Do it again several days later as an Earner, and they'll most likely think twice about disregarding you so quickly. Obviously you bust your ass, so maybe they'll give you that nod in the future. To be honest, as this young of an age the only motivational factor most of us have is to make an impression on a family- it is through them that we will accomplish the goals that inspire us. Now back to your original point, I think that a 'goal' is an eternal thing. Once you have achieved one goal, you should always strive for something more, something further. Why stop and sell yourself short of being the best that you can? I know that my initial ambition for this world was to find a good shelter and crew. Bam, done. Does that mean that I stop and degenerate into an endless cycle of monotonous work? Never. I've set a new goal, and my goal now is to get in good with the family that was so kind to take me in. Granted, that may not happen until the day I hopefully hit Made Woman, but it is something to work towards nonetheless. From there I will have new opportunities opened, new worlds to explore- and as a result, new goals. I'm interested to hear, Heathcliff, what your motivational factors are? Do you not plan on finding more and setting new bars of accomplishment for yourself as you grow in this world? |
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| Reply by: Jillian at Jan 25, '08 15:04 | |
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What motivates me? Hrm, well, primarily I would like to live long enough to rank up a little? Why rank? Because you need to reach a certain position to be able to have a strong impact on the community. It may sound conceited to say such a thing, being only a gangster, but ambition and a little self-confidence in one's own abilities and potential isn't necessarily bad. I know a little of the history of this society, and I have role models galore who inspire me...examples would be a fella who once had the pseudonym Money-B, and the current Family Head - Cathy Parks... Why these people? Both obtained a level of power both personally and as Family Chiefs that allowed them to break the mould and try something a bit different...both tried to give something back to the society they grew up...so many don't. So many get their Family and sit there waiting, literally, someone to shoot them. |
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| Reply by: Heathcliff at Jan 25, '08 15:19 | |
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Heathcliff, I do agree that some people do attain their family and then, as you said before, 'rest on their laurels'. I think we can come to the conclusion that those people never went out of their way to reach out of their comfort zone, try something revolutionary, and probably did not set another goal for themselves after their initial goal was complete. You picked a prime example of a current family head who started in this world and who seemingly continues to set new boundaries for herself. Perhaps I was mistaken about you earlier. From your initial speaking I had pegged you as the disenchanted type who was merely wondering if there was a reason to do anything day in and day out in this life. My apologies for that. Seems you do have a clear view of your over-all life goal. Yet I must be nosy and ask, as your opening tone suggested confusion about this 'thing of ours'. You claimed that the easiest ways to rank- the tedious daily work of crime sprees and drug pushing- were 'hardly motivation'. Yet they are, as we agree, the best ways to go about achieving said new status? In the end, all those small things you do every day may add up to you gaining your esteemed rank and making an impact on the community. So would that not be motivation in itself? Perhaps I'm just beating this to death and causing more confusion for the lot of us, in which case I do apologize. |
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| Reply by: Jillian at Jan 25, '08 16:00 | |
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Gianni took a few minutes out to listen as others spoke, when it seemed quiet, he stepped forward and injected a few of his thoughts. Life's meaning...for me, it's meaning is to achieve my goals. My goals aren't anything special like to one day attain the status of Don or to be the most recognised figure in the community...A simple life appeals to me, so my goals reflect this; Perhaps a nice home somewhere I can retire to and life with my wife, hopefully after living a long and prosperous life having been inducted into a mafia family - Become a Made Man. He paused, just letting those last few words linger in his mouth All this talk of "rank" and such...it's not too relevent. Rank is nice, but it doesn't maketh the man. The man maketh the rank. Be the best you can be and see where you end up. Surely that's the meaning of life? |
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| Reply by: Gianni_Lacomo at Jan 25, '08 21:30 | |
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Personally, I've always thought the meaning of life was to learn as much as you can, strive for excellence in all things, help other whenever possible, love, and wake up the next morning. I apologize for the brief reply, but this sort of question is either a 2 line response for me or a 2,000 line response for me. I thought I'd spare everyone. Keats winks and steps back, interested to see what others have to offer |
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| Reply by: Keats at Jan 25, '08 21:35 | |
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As I was crafting a reply to Signore Heathcliff, a question struck me which I now ask you. When is enough enough? Where is the fine line between the pursuit of excellence and striving too much? Where does it all stop? What will make us stop? Or does it actually end? So many questions I still have in mind but I would rather save it for another day. Personally, I think such pursuit no matter how good and noble it is, ultimately has an end. As much as we want to better ourselves by striving for excellence we also have to pause and reflect on our life. We need to evaluate whether we should go on or not. For me it all basically boils down to the question, "Are we happy and contented with what we have achieved?" Because it is when we feel happy and contented in what we have achieved in this life do I think we have done enough. I eagerly await your replies. Even a 2,000 line response will be greatly appreciated. *smiles* Orpheus sits back in to a bench and continues pondering over the meaning of life. |
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| Reply by: Orpheus at Jan 26, '08 03:09 | |
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This is always a tricky question for my bloodline. Lately we have had no motivation at all, literally none, now there is a crew leader for us to believe in once more here we are, ready to take the next steps. I have no desire to run a family. I have no desire to train the best shot in the world. The only reason I wish to rank at all really is so I can earn more money for Hannibal and make him stronger, it's not a selfish reason at all. So what will I get out of it? For me the participation is its own reward, the talk in the streets, the relationships that will develop in the family, hopefully with some bloodlines I am not already acquainted with already. The rekindling of some old relationships (hey, I know I'm only a youngster, but you know what I mean). I will try to avoid the politics, I can't be bothered with the double dealing, the back stabbing, the false commitments - I know it's all a part of the game these days, but I shall leave the game playing to those more comfortable with it. I like to call a spade a spade and leave it at that, playing semantics about shovels does not appeal. I love stretching metaphors beyond their usefulness, don't you? Primarily though, I truly am here for the boss, he needs something, I'll get it done for him if I possibly can, it's really that simple. There's a satisfaction in dedicating your life to a family and putting your all into it that is as rewarding as seeing the ranks fly by, or watching that kill list grow. |
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| Reply by: Anthony_Scotto at Jan 26, '08 04:14 | |
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