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What's on your mind? Started by: MontgomeryBurns on Jan 02, '20 20:46

Monty wasn't one for talking in public, he much preferred watching the hounds chase down intruders trying to steal his riches. He wasn't sure why anyone would want used bills that he's used to wipe his own ass with, but that was neither here nor there.

Making his first public appearance, Monty shouts out loudest to catch the peoples attention.

"Ahoy-hoy!"

Monty notices a bill sticking out his pocket and decides to blow his nose with it, he then drops it as if it were nothing and continues to speak.

"I've never been much of a speaker, so please bare with me but feel free to criticize me in the nicest of ways.

Now, I am not as evil, devious and greedy as everyone makes me out to be, I am only here to get the opinions, views and concerns of those we see on a daily basis.

We have seen many wars and removals, we continue to see bloodlines in power over and over again. America isn't as big as it once was, we have seen many flee to pastures new and numbers slowly diminish over a long period of time. As leaders, we should be listening to everyone and taking on board their suggestions of a better more productive world, things they'd like to be implemented into our community... Pretty much anything, we should be listening and trying to make everyone fit in and happy.

If you're scared or worried about speaking out loud in the streets, you can send me a private telegram or find an alternative way of voicing yourself which I will gladly speak on your behalf to the people.

So, with that being said. What would you change? What would you like to see or not see? What's on your mind?"

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Dick really thought he shouldn’t be doing this but, the question was asked and he had spent enough time around here by now that he had an opinion on the matter. Stepping out around the corner, he shifted slightly uncomfortably, “It truly seems the be the same time and time again. Sure, it’s new names at this point but blood runs deep. The old boys club still runs the show. Well get fresh blood every so often but, they either fall in line and will be on top, run after run or they are replaced with someone who will and they fall into obscurity. There isn’t much middle ground here.”

He knew that his words might be met with vitriol but, he trusted in the process at this point. He drew a deep breath before continuing, “We see it with gangsters and goombas being named left and right hand (wo)men. None of that is based on whatever run they are on. It is based on who they knew previously. Unfortunately, LHM and RHM are established by their crew leader, if they want that person there, then that is how it will be. To me, that is worse than blood lining. It doesn’t let anyone grow. Yea, we all work our way up the ladder but that is all it feels like. Taking step after step but there is a glass ceiling there. I could have been here for one hundred days and someone who was here for fifteen is my Right Hand Man. It just doesn’t make much sense.

In my opinion, the only way around this is setting a cap that anyone under made can’t be a hand. But once again, the other side of the coin is that the family head gets to put whomever they trust in that position, which of course is their prerogative, they earned that right by becoming a crew leader.”

Dick took a step back, swiftly lifting the flask from his pocket and leaning back against the cool brick of a building. 

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Kaiya smiled as she listened to MongomeryBurns talk, as song as the speech stopped Kaiya clapped and stepped forward "Monty i completely agree with you, we sometimes not intentionally shut off the idea's of others who have something to say, or when someone isn't as loud they get pushed to the side.People need a voice and if they so choose to speak from themselves not completely shot down and made to feel silly".

Kaiya cleared her throat "I would like to recall also when my bloodline first arrived here help was pretty scarce as most where only concerned in reaching the top with their own circle of friends, So i would like to offer up my own services to any new comers who need a helping hand.New blood should NOT be cast aside just because it may be time consuming to help them, i will help any person who so needs it". Kaiya takes a step back into the crowd and waits.

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Nipsey listened to MontgomeryBurns as he smoked a blunt. Once Monty finished, Nipsey nodded his head and stepped up to speak himself.

"My ancestors have been around these streets for quite some time. My blood has reached the spot of a crew leader on occasion. I'm not one to determine how things are, but I will say that it's a 'people you know' sort of place. All I can do is remain respectful, loyal, and work my ass off so I can try to move up in this world. But time will tell. I'm interested in seeing who will fill New York. And hopefully no other cities are cleaned up any time soon."

Nipsey steps back and lights his blunt. He begins smoking as he enters a vehicle with his bodyguards and friends.

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Dick had to step back out of the crowd after he heard Nipsey_Hussle speak, “You are exactly right, my friend. All we can do is live by our word and be respectful to everyone we come across. This place has always been about honor and respect, as long as that tradition is upheld, I think we will all be okay.”

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Monty was please with the amount of voices that wanted to speak up, though he had hoped that more people would've spoke their mind and been honest.

"It makes sense that we would like to see those we trust in places, but how did they get there in the first place? Through trust. Shouldn't we place some of that trust in others? I am at fault here too, my trusted Right Hand Rorschach is of someones bloodline who I trust more than most and has never done me wrong, my Left Hand HarryDresden is a bloodline I've never worked with before and someone I have plans for.

I received a $100,000 tip recently with a note that read as follows...

'In this day and age, any crewleader showing the balls to come to the streets for anything not related to a takedown should be encouraged'

Now this is something I think all leaders should be able to do. There are always times when you find a leader who is mute, doesn't like to be seen in public and it seems as though they couldn't care less.

As leaders, we should all be in the public from time to time, and not just to defend other leaders speech of a takedown after receiving lots of criticism. Right now, I would like a leader or indeed leaders to step forward with a reason as to why they are mute in the streets. Now I don't mean to cause offence, but as leaders shouldn't we be setting an example? Taking the lead?"

Monty watches as they eyes begin to give daggers and can see that he might have annoyed some of the leaders.

"Am I worried of the consequences of speaking out? No. Why? Freedom of speech right? I implore you all to come out and have your say, speak your mind."

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Gav tries to shimmy his way between audience members. The Las Vegas leader Mr. Burns had commanded quite an audience. Gav wanted to give his two cents.

Are the best leaders the ones that speak out, or the ones that say nothing? Some may say that there are periods of peace and there are periods of war. That, the string of obituaries marking a first wave is what transforms our world from one of peace to one of war. And to many, we regard the "best leaders" as the ones taking or surviving those shots.

The truth is, there is no period of peace. At all times, plans are being engineered by some against others. For instance, Don Whoreable recently told the world that New York was engineering plans against other cities. As soon as those plans were made, we were at war. There's a quote by John Locke that echoes this sentiment quite clearly.

The state of war is a state of enmity and destruction: and therefore declaring by word or action, not a passionate and hasty, but a sedate settled design upon another man's life, puts him in a state of war with him against whom he has declared such an intention, and so has exposed his life to the other's power to be taken away by him.

This is, in a wordy way, how we justify removing rivals that plot against us. Because as soon as those plans are made, the state of war has begun. Whoever strikes first is merely being practical.

Now for another quote- one that's likely more memorable.

All warfare is based on deception.

If we accept both of these to be accurate observations of how we operate, any substantial contribution to the Streets that we demand of crewleaders would be false. Which would then make it meaningless. So, what exactly becomes the objective of demanding activity in the Streets? It's just hollow judgment and goading of individuals who don't want to participate in toil.

If crewleaders really wanted to make meaningful Streets speeches, they could do it in a heartbeat. Homer could declare a formal period of peace for four weeks. Two cities could co-author a public statement of mutual defense. You can make meaningful contributions that bring the shadowy bullshit out into the open. But no one will. Because that would be against their interests.

I don't mind demanding crewleaders to be more vocal. I just don't see any point in demanding them to participate in things that don't matter.

Gav looks at his watch and realizes how long he had been rambling. The eyes of the entire crowd had shifted to him. He ducked back. He did not enjoy the attention.

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Personally, when I first arrived, I made little impact on this world; walked the streets knowing few and understanding little.

It took a good few of my ancestors journals before I had enough of an understanding to join the upper echelons, and I understand that it also takes time to build the relations to make that happen, so I appreciate why things are as they are.

Whether or not that is right is clearly a matter for debate. Sure, when you've built those relationships, gaining the trust of someone you've been loyal and trustworthy with is easy - but only if the regime is a favourable one.

The flip side of that same coin is the noteriety you gain with other regimes who may dislike you and/or your friends - once they're in power, they may see you as an enemy, or simply a threat to their way of life and execute you for that very same reason. 

So whilst I agree that some have it simpler in attaining rank, it's because they've put in work, developed relations and spent months being shot for who they or their friends are. In those circumstances, it's wise to be cautious of who you trust.

 

TLDR: In my opinion, cronyism is still very much a bed of roses at times - it's great when you're in bloom, but if you're not careful, one lil prick can still ruin your day. 

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Raphael approaches the masses thinking carefully, removing his hat and uncovering a long red bandanna that wraps snug around his head. His eyes open as he looks up at those who waiting for him to speak...

Mr Burns, that is indeed a fair question, and before I give my opinion I'm going to have to mention that my linage has indeed been around for sometime. So the ways of old have been imprinted into my dna so to speak. Now that being said I think everyone is entitled to have there own wether I agree with it, or not. It would sure be a boring place if we were all the same. As far as making everyone happy, I think at the end of the day we can try, I feel as a leader I that it's important that we try. But just like politics you often have two sides of the fence that can't seem to agree on everything. And that's fine, we have to find a way to live with one another and move forward as neighbours. I'm sure every city is different in how they are overseen, what goals they have, where they see there city tomorrow, a week from now, a year from now.

 

This is for sure though, times are changing and everyone is going to have to find a way to roll with the punches. Though my presence in these streets has been ghostly I'm going to work on changing that. And something I would like to see return to our fine cities is the swelling of HQs, seeing our cities prosper and grow with opportunity for not only the old but the new as well.

​Well friends, I have to get back to work, thanks for listening.​​

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Zangief gives old Monty a steely glare before sitting down to listen to all the others giving their opinions.

Well, so far there has been a good amount of people giving their thoughts. Hopefully, there are more to come that are simply still trying to put their thoughts into words before speaking out here.

Now, I'm not really here to actually give specific thoughts to any changes i'd like to see - as I don't currently have any desire to see specific changes. My only remit at this moment is to slowly but surely help Philly rebuild itself. A work in progress as most will be able to see, but its no easy task with such a large amount of the population spread over so many crews in this thing of ours. A good problem to have in my view, as it allows plenty of people to find a home that suits them, rather than feel pressured into joining the only leader available. Anyway, I digress.. I'd like to just really comment on a few things that people mentioned.

Zangief turns firstly to DickGrayson

Dick, I can certainly appreciate what you are saying regarding the length of time you may work for a leader and see yourself being overlooked for someone that to you appears to be some new fish in town. Granted, that leader may know relations of this person which is why they are affording them so much trust - like most leaders i'm somewhat guilty of this. The two men at my sides are descendants of people I worked with in Vegas under my former leader BringMeLuck. Both men were immensley helpful and are part of the reason i'm alive today, so when I was afforded the chance to purchase my own building in Philly and run a family from it, I sought out these two descendants to work alongside them.

Now, would that fall under the same purvey as me choosing a bloodline over someone thats worked hard? Maybe not, as they were the first people to be brought into my HQ. But I can still see where your coming from and my bloodline has done the actions you speak of many times before. It simply boils down to a higher level of trust, really. If you've been connected in various ways over many years to the same bloodline, when you need someone that you have to trust 100%, then your going to choose the people you trust the most in the world. Sometimes that might mean calling someone out of the blue and asking them to catch the next boat over to join this thing of ours, which to you and me will see a fresh face coming off the boat, but to that leader could be a person they've known for many years but just weren't currently involved in our way of life. The trust would have still been there, so the leader will be comfortable with them, but your right it could feel like a slap in the face to those that were already working hard in this thing of ours and see themselves being pushed aside by the new guy.

I can't see this ever being a situation we can amend, sadly. My bloodline has been around these parts for almost 18 years now and its been an issue from day 1. Sure, we can stick in some stipulations like asking for Hands to be of certain ranking - but really all we are doing is delaying the inevitable.

Still, its a good topic to bring up in discussion Dick so I'm glad you did. Might even be worthy of its own little chat on another corner of the street to garner more views and opinions to be honest.

Zangief takes a deep breath, then turns to Kaiya

I'm really troubled to hear you say that help was scarce when your bloodline first arrived. Was that a recent issue? With their being so many leaders and so many hands/sponsors, I'm confused as to how it could be possible that you weren't practically pulled from pillar to post to join one of them and receive all the assistance you could get from them?

Your comments do give me the impression your bloodline isn't so much new to this thing of ours, so perhaps I needed be as concerned and this was an old issue you had? I'm very pleased to see you offering your help to those that are new to our shores now, i'm certain those that you reach out to will welcome the help.

Personally, I pride myself in assisting people. Outside of earning my living as a crewleader, I have a secret day job that involves helping people, I like to think that a part of that secret life transfers to my dealings here in this thing of ours and that many will find me not only approachable, but often too helpful. I tend to be like the proverbial child in a sweet shop when I stumble across a bloodline thats never reached our shores before, offering all manner of tips and insights and perhaps even scaring them with far too much information.

There is sadly a smalll downfall to such a way of life, though. My hands take the same approach as me and give all the help they can. One of them recently took a young Civilian in and even employed a local police officer to look after the kid, so that they didnt face any hardship when working their way up. Only for that kid to kill themselves later that same day. A very costly error for my hand in being so generous. He later spotted that Officer helping out another new kid, so it would appear he's choosen to continue working for the bloodline of the kid we helped - I wonder what peoples thoughts on this are? Does the Officer owe servitude to my hand, should we be allowed to terminate his employ now that he's assisting someone elsewhere instead of my member? Or should we seek compensation from this person that now receives the benefit of the Officer looking after them?

My own thoughts? We suck it up. We move on. We be more careful about extending such grand gifts to people. The cost of being kind, I guess.

Ok I think I'd better leave my thoughts there, I dont want to put everyone to sleep.

Thank you Mr Burns for encouraging the people and indeed your fellow leaders to come and share some thoughts. Mine may appear a little erratic as I tend to go off on a tangent.. but oh well.

Zangief kicks Rorschach and runs away laughing

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Arriving far too late Il Matto steps forward to part take in the discussion.

"Greetings everyone, and to you Monty i have also come forward to answer your calling."

"Now i barely have enough people under my service to fit on one hand so i am not sure if i would qualify myself as a leader but i will offer you my piece."

"If i had to explain my 'reasons' for not pressuring the streets as much as i should it is primarily due to time and quality. I have a lot of other responsibilities outside the streets, which i feel should take a higher priority. I still try to come forward when it seems to be relevant but i do not value myself on my speaking skills so i tend to keep a low profile. "

"Don't get me wrong I do have a lot of respect and appreciation for those who spend the time to come forward whenever its for entertainment, announcement or something else. I go and listen to most of these mobsters to take their word in and sometimes ask my men to hand them a tip from the shadows."

"Now, back to the main topic."

"I am content where i am and have very few concerns on my plate and none worth mentioning. There have already been presented a lot of valid points, I agree with mister Grayson that ideally a mere goomba fresh off the streets should never amount to more than your Mades who have stood by your side and through respect, loyalty and effort earned their button. If rank and hierarchy seems superficial that must surely have some effect on crew members. There is of course fair arguments for not pressuring this as much. Sometimes the previous ancestors goes above and beyond departs from the world far too early, leaving you with the only choice of showing gratitude by inviting their kin into the inner workings of the family."

"I think life around here is too short to worry about how everyone else handles their crew, that is between them and their members. If it works fine for them then who am i to suggest otherwise?"

Matto steps aside but before returning to the crowd she turns to Rorschach offering him a hand to get up while wondering why he is still laying on the ground.

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Monty was so please that others had come to have their say, whether they were right or wrong... Well, there is no right or wrong. All points are valid and taken on board.

"I thank you all for coming out and having your piece heard by others, to be quite honest I can't think of a single response to anyone, no matter what we say and no matter we do someone will always compliment you for being right, then there are others that will insult you and tell you you're dead wrong."

As Monty was speaking, a rushed what seems to be teenager runs right into Monty and brushes past his shoulder. Being fragile and made of nothing but bones, he spins round on the spot and falls to the ground losing his balance. Upon getting back to his feet, he finds a large sheet of paper.

After minutes of reading, it is clear that someone wanted this read out, which is exactly what he does.

"I have what appears to be a a note here from someone who wishes to express something but is too scared of the retaliation it could possibly involve, so I'll speak on their behalf.

Clearing his throat, he begins to read aloud.

"Thank you MontgomeryBurns for posting this topic, however I feel most would not come here and express their true feeling for fear of retaliation.  It’s just like with a victory speech after a takedown when people speak they are mostly seen as being sally rather than expressing legitimate concerns.

Today a beef that one city has with someone becomes the beef of a cities across the continent. From the journals of my last ancestor, during the last war you didn’t know who was at war with whom.  We are made to believe that our organizations are just full with a bunch of disloyal fucks.  We are made to believe that the rats run so rampart it’s so easy to gather Intel on what a Crew leader is going to do what.   Or their moles are so undercover they can actual obtain information pertinent to another’s intentions.    You are never presented with actual facts.

My ancestors had no problems with the same bloodlines in leadership roles over and over again.  Those were the leaders they jockey to be with in order to learn.  They didn’t know their history; they just determined that they must be doing something right in order to be place in a power position time after time.  However I do see a problem with the next of kin not having to prove themselves.   Automatically assuming that the next of kin will have the same qualities as their ancestor is unrealistic.

However, the true conflicts are completely in the hands or our leaders.   We are just loyal servants that get caught up in the mix.  However dispensable we feel, war becomes business and nothing personal among friends.    God forbid if wars were fought one on one, where allies could assist in a war with only non violent acts such as financial means.  I can imagine far less.  We are more concern about an Associate’s crimes on a Made and far less concern about the violent acts we provoke on each other as Made.  .

It’s a way of life and although we pray the serenity prayer and hope that things will change history has taught us that it won’t.  So throughout the years you learn to become numb to death and try to live life to the fullest while you can.

I truly appreciate that a Crew Leader has given us the chance to voice our opinions.  

It’s hard to perceive change where the mindset of our leaders is filled with paranoia, just another word for ignorance is running rampart.  Please don’t get it twisted we have been taught and understand quite well that Crew Leaders can protect their crew by any means necessary and rightfully so. 

But since you have given me the opportunity to be honest about what’s on my mind, it’s where the shit going to hit the fan next?   And if people are really honest it’s something that crosses their minds also.

The only real option we have is to be loyal  and support our current leader, talk with them about possible change, then hope they have the appropriate rapport with the other leaders to not make be perceived as  a threat."

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