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| Choices, Choices. | Started by: Nick_Toreno on Feb 07, '08 15:04 |
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Jumps out of a moving limousine straight onto an upturned milkcrate whilst taking an obligatory puff of his cigar and a bite of his philly cheesesteak. After several more clich actions, and after having taken a surrepticious swig from his hipflask whilst leaning against the wall of City Hall where the aforementioned upturned milkcrate was already conveniently placed, Nick began to speak. Ladies, Gentlemen, esteemed members of the third sex, a cursory nod toward Altitude today, I want to talk at, yes at, you about the long and winding road. It is surely the most overused similie that the journey of like is like a long and winding road, but it is particularly apt for our thing. With all walks of life, choice is inevitable. Even by choosing to not decide, a choice has still been made. Choice, were it a person, could not be outrun, not even by Jesse Owens. Yeah. If choice were a person, it would be that fucking fast; though that last comment was of course entirely irrelevant. Back to feature presentation. Not just in Our Thing, but in a 'normal' lifestyle, the population as individuals face constant obstacles they must overcome, crossroads and forks will appear in one's journey, and a path must be chosen. The difference with La Cosa Nostra, however, is that our own choices are higlighted and scrutinised more critically than with any other lifestyle, from the omnipotent Godfather to the lowly thug. The obituaries, the streets, everything is a constant reminder to the individual that there is always a bad choice to make, and it will not go unnoticed. Today(and I mean that in a broader sense than literally this day), however, Today is different. Today, we face choices not as individuals but as a single entity. We stand, as I'm sure you all know, on the brink of a new dawn. It is our choice as a community whether the light of the new dawn shows La Cosa Nostra has a progessing force, however pardoxical that may seem and however glacial that progess is; or whether the new dawn sheds light on La Cosa Nostra as a perpetuating stagnant cess pit from which we will never climb, if we do not do so now. It is truly my belief that the conduct of our generation will influence the decorum of our sucessors far more greatly than the actions of our forerunners did. Perhaps I am naive to believe that endless years of poor customs will be eradicated by a short period of wonder, but I believe it nonetheless. If there is ever an appropriate time to rest on your laurels, which I believe there isn't incidentally, now is not it. If there was ever a time for negativity, again, never in my opinion, now is not that time. Now is the time to, in the words of PrinceofCheese "Stop scratching, it'll only get worse" or perhaps more relevantly, "Stand up and be counted." Lead by example; and I'm not talking about the Leaders themselves, they're doing exactly what they say on the tin at the moment, inspire someone to greatness, be inspired to greatness. And if you're going to come out and declare the streets as a vacuum, you should be doing it through interpretational dance at the very least, that should get people talking. The choice is yours Mafia...Success! or Falure. |
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Well, yes, this is clearly true. Every individual has the potential to both rise to the top or sink to the bottom (quite literally). It has everything to with choices made. We live in a world without second chances, so every single action ought to be weighed against its consequences. It's all too often that an up-and-coming Mafioso gets a bit too wack-happy and makes a mistake that costs him his life. Mr Toreno, would you mind explaining why it is, though, that "today" is different? What is this new dawn? |
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| Reply by: JohnnyAxe at Feb 07, '08 15:42 | |
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Mr Axe, the difference is that when we look to the past, things have inevitably continued as normal following the FBI swoops, new criminals come out of hiding and the Underworld ploughs on unrelenting. There has been no great jarring change to the way we have operated, which has resulted in no great need to change ourselves to adapt to new circumstances. Though with rumours circulating of another great coup for the feds, and with assurances from City Hall that we as a group will not be able to go about our business in the same manner as before, it is imperative that we adapt and not just survive, but thrive. |
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| Reply by: Nick_Toreno at Feb 07, '08 15:58 | |
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Ah, I see. Thank you for clarifying further, Mr Toreno. I've no doubt that organized crime will be able to adapt to these changes when they arrive, as methods of crime and criminals themselves seem to evolve rapidly. However, I'm unconvinced that this change will bring about choices much different than the ones we already make. We live by a code. That code will not change just because we have new options. There may be more mistakes to be made, but I think we will inevitably continue business much as usual. |
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| Reply by: JohnnyAxe at Feb 07, '08 16:10 | |
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This is something that I must confess has played on my mind. While the gods are constantly tinkering in our world things have never been changed drastically so the need to adapt has been limited. What we are hearing now from the heavens is that the gods are now preparing for drastic changes to be made and while we will need to adapt to a new lifestyle I believe that the core of our world will remain the same. What we must always remember that when change comes it does not change who we are, or the codes we live by. The fibers that hold families together through rough and easy times should still remain. We will still need to rely on one and other to further ourselves. |
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| Reply by: SmokingKills at Feb 07, '08 16:17 | |
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