My most recent speech took an unexpected turn, it led to disharmony; something I am against. In light of this, today's speech with instead focus on the essential qualities that make up a man of honour in this thing (for man, read men & women, and and children or little people amongst us).

DUTIES OF MAFIOSI ACROSS THESE CITIES

Of course, in one sense, the first essential for a mans being a good Mafiosi is his possession of the home virtues of which we think when we call a man by the emphatic adjective of manly. No man can be a good Mafiosi 'who is not a good husband and a good father, who is not honest in his dealings with other men and women, faithful to his friends and fearless in the presence of his foes, who has not got a sound heart, a sound mind, and a sound body; exactly as no amount of attention to civil duties will save a nation if the domestic life is undermined, or there is lack of the rude military virtues which alone can assure a country�s position in the world. Across these 8 cities the ideal Mafiosi must be one willing and able to take arms for the defence of the family, exactly as the ideal Mafiosi must be the father of many healthy associates. A regime must be strong and vigorous; it must be a regime of good fighters and good breeders, else its wisdom will come to naught and its virtue be ineffective; and no sweetness and delicacy, no love for and appreciation of beauty in art or literature, no capacity for building up material prosperity can possibly atone for the lack of the great virile virtues.

But this is aside from my subject, for what I wish to talk of is the attitude of the American Mafiosi in these 8 cities. It ought to be axiomatic in this country that every man must devote a reasonable share of his time to doing his duty in the Political life of the community, on the Streets. No man has a right to shirk his political duties under whatever plea of pleasure or business; and while such shirking may be pardoned in those of small cleans it is entirely unpardonable in those among whom it is most commonin the people whose circumstances give them freedom in the struggle for life. In so far as the community grows to think rightly, it will likewise grow to regard the young man of means who shirks his duty to the 8 cities in time of peace as being only one degree worse than the man who thus shirks it in time of war. A great many of our men in business, or of our young men who are bent on enjoying life (as they have a perfect right to do if only they do not sacrifice other things to enjoyment), rather plume themselves upon being good Mafiosi as if they even contribute to the Streets; yet contributing is the very least of their duties, Nothing worth gaining is ever gained without effort. You can no more have freedom without striving and suffering for it than you can win success as a Consiq or a Don without labour and effort, without self-denial in youth and the display of a ready and alert intelligence in middle age. The people who say that they have not time to attend to politics are simply saying that they are unfit to live in these 8 cities.

What makes an ideal member of a crew?

Having only been a member of prew for such a short time, I don't know that I have the answer to this very interesting question.  However, I can try to take a shot, at least to get the conversation going.  And hope that others will provide even better insight - having more experience in this world.  

I think an ideal member of a crew is wholely dedicated to his crew.  That means he or she spends as much time as possible with his crew (family).  

What else?

shrugs

Maybe somebody who lives honorably.  Now, I'm not completely sure that means somebody who never lies, never cheats, or never steals.  We can't be in this life and never lie, cheat or steal.  I think living honorably means to strive to do your best in everything you do.  Everything you do for your crew.  

Loyalty.  Allow your own interests to take second place to be truly loyal to to another; to your crew.  

I'm sure there are many more qualities that make an ideal member of a crew.  

Others include hard work, and so on.

I'm sure there are many more qualities.  So, what are they?

EddieClaxton was minding his own business, reading the daily paper, when he bumped into a homeless man covered in rags and filth.

"Watch where you're going, bozo." EddieClaxton yelled at the hobo. 

"It's rare for me to find street banter these days I care about so get off my back, will ya?" The homeless man begrudgingly replied.

Banter? EddieClaxton blocked out the hobo's words as he noticed that he now stood among a small crowd of people intently listening to some man's speech. It reeked of the same old idealism he often read about in his ancestor's journals and heard from his grandparents in the countryside. He attempted to stifle a laugh but a small chuckle managed to get out. 

"Omertà. The word everyone here has definitely heard. The word everyone here has had their kin hammer into their heads. After that and good ol' fashioned chivalric honor, that's all that matters? How about marksmanship, financial proficiency, charisma, connections, and the like? Idealism is a good basis for morals and ethics, but waiting for perfect crew members to be available is inferior to simply just getting all the loyal men who can contribute more tangible things and complement each other's weaknesses and strengths. I believe this conversation has less roots on creating a functional crew out of different people and more on concepts which are less grounded in reality. I do not discourage these things yet I find them not quite as productive as other conversation topics." EddieClaxton says as he tips his hat, walks away, and carries on with his current business. 

Striphe had listened to a few people talk as he placed his coffee down on the concrete step. He walked into the street brushing off his suit of some dust and watched as some of his men handed out food to the homeless and old ladies. He had thought about the topic for a while before talking

A lot of different things a mobster can do to be a good member to their family but loyalty is mentioned above is paramount. You could be the biggest earner with the biggest gun but in end if I cannot trust you then it is all for nothing. I think most of us would agree we would rather have a non earning lazy mobster who barely is awake rather than a person who causes trouble and we cannot trust.

Sometimes you can find a loyalty, hard worker, active person who has the same drive and goals as your general direction and things can really get moving. Every family has a few of these people and they are the blood that keeps us all moving forward. Money is great and so is a person who is active in the streets but at the end of the day give me someone I can chat with and enjoy having around and trust and it trumps the rest.

He thought about some of the people he had worked with on his way up to where he was now in Chicago. He had been with some loyal people that made it all worth it and now he had some great people in his family and a reason to be successful