Zebedee wanders onto the soap box. Why a soap box he wonders? Would a toy box or a storage box work equally as well?  Obviously not a shoe box. Oh no, that wouldn’t have nearly enough structural integrity to allow someone to perform a speech upon, oh, and don’t get me started on corrugated boxes! Bloody rubbish I tell you.

Zebedee realises that whilst this debate is one that needs discussing in the future, his old mind is going off on a tangent and he pulls himself back to focus on the point he wanted to make.

Having recently engaged in a discussion about the merits of speeches and other things, Cinnamon challenged me to step up and see what I could do.  Despite my inherent laziness I decided to come to you and get off my chest something I’ve been pondering for quite some time.

Now, we’ve all seen many, many of our world complain that it’s the same old bloodlines in power, creating dynasties that don’t allow new blood and opportunity.  So a thought occurred to me.

Why not let them try?

My proposal is this. 

1 week, absolutely no auth and an armistice for those that set up.  Anyone who fancies a go should be allowed to. No questions asked.

The benefits of this proposal are at least threefold.

1. It would put to bed the argument that no ‘new blood’ is being given an opportunity.
2. It would be fascinating to see how the ‘new blood’ fare.  It is of my personal opinion that the cream will always rise to the top regardless
3. it would generate great interest and satiate those who complain about stagnancy within our worlds.

Oh yeah, it would also be fucking mental.

So, I put it to the leaders out there, what do you think?

Zebedee - this is basically already in existence.  The 5-man HQ for Made Men that Grin-08 piloted and that has been running successfully for quite some time.

with respect Anton, i disagree.

I'm talking about anyone, at anytime, with any size HQ.  no auth, that is the main point.

the 5 person HQ that you mention, still has to be agreed, what i'm proposing is that for one week, it's whoever the hell feels like having a go knowing that the have a week to make the most of it.

Zebedee - I'm not sure many people would go for that.  They'd have concerns about their safety once the week is over.

As Leader of the Streets, and CL of the second largest crew in The Loop, Chicago, I would throw my full weight behind that, though.

Anton

it's brilliant and refreshing that you'd back it.  I agree, those taking part would indeed be worried that their investment would be ruined but I maintain that the cream would rise to the top. Yes, the majority wouldn't survive, but isn't that the way of the world?

And at the risk of repeating myself, it would be fucking mental.

It may be mental however given the saltiness of bloodlines at losing the work of barely recognizable names, the prospect of ponying up cash for an HQ, forts etc and then dying would cause a flood in the streets the likes of which are normally only experienced during the Bombay monsoon season.

Saab

I love the picture you paint!

But would it not also satisfy those who feel denied a chance?

Everyone should have the opportunity to see their name in bold.  If nothing else to experience the mind-numbing tedium of having to deal with whiners complaining about comments in the streets or the coffee shops.  Or experience the paranoia.

Oooh why not just have district hunger games to experience that?  Each city designates one district to throw prospective made candidates into, one person starts feeding rumours into each of the ears and the first person to shoot loses.

now that right there is an idea.

Happy to help you iron out the finer details!

I don't see why both idea's can't work, it would certainly bring some much needed excitement to the streets.

In a slightly similar vein to a hunger games type thing, at one point recently Grin was trying to get a duel competition off the ground - fleshed out with gambling on the side, glory to the winners, and all that - that I thought would have been great fun but, as ever with basically anything you try to do here, there was not enough interest. 

Auth is currently available everywhere, no questions asked. The only requirement is that you get Made, after that you're free to do as you please.  

I think when I announced it, I said something like:

All you need to do is speak to the respective Don of that City and make arrangements with them directly as to what they require. Once they are satisfied and terms have been agreed the rest is up to you. Tell your leader, don't tell your leader. Get the green light and leave them a fat envelope as a parting gift. Say nothing and leave a steaming turd on the boss's desk instead. It is up to you, as a Made Man, to establish the framework within which you're going to operate and meet the requirements of those in charge.

So the only difference here would be, what? Don't speak to the city leader and buy whatever HQ you wish? Well not speaking to a city leader is already an option (albeit an idiotic one) and the HQs are initially capped at 5 because HQ costs are based upon the number of HQs already in a district (maybe even a city, I can't remember exactly). But, I spoke to those at City Hall and agreed they would cut us a good deal on smaller HQs to facilitate this idea going ahead. 

I believe the mental disintegration caused by the insidious drip drip drip of false information into someone's head is far more fun than simply duelling!

@ Grin_08

Yeah I understand the initiative you put forward and thought, for what my opinion is worth, it a refreshingly original move.

I suppose my proposal differs in that yes, any size HQ anywhere.  also, the armistice. A promise they all get a week to get their collective shit together and then we see what happens.

More of a sociological experiment really but an enjoyable one all the same I would profer.

Possibly,

but some wouldn't have the resources, very loyal donators for example would be at a distinct disadvantage. Having said that, money always talks so who knows?

I do like being name dropped... gives me a warm fuzzy feeling in my giblets, so thanks for drawing my attention to your speech, Zebedee. It's certainly a novel idea, and seeing how this conversation has progressed, seems like there may be some appetite for this sorta thing. Kudos for suggesting it!

I'm old enough to remember that the Gods temporarily had something similar when the country was changing its record keeper ((server)). Everyone retained their skills but nobody was established or protected, and with no rules in place, it was bedlam. That shit was fuuuunnnnn! I've often wished we could do something similar to that, as an annual event, so I'd be open to hearing how your idea pans out.

Nobody who comes to Chicago will be shot within a week unless they do something to deserve it, which would be the case in any sort of project like you're proposing anyway (i.e. gross incompetence, trying to kill people...the big stuff etc.).

The HQ size thing I've already covered.

As to everyone being forced to setup, I'm not a huge fan of making people things do they don't want to - it rarely breeds good results. My original idea behind this proposal was that a good chunk of my Made guys would setup a 5 man crew under the umbrella of my family and I'd end up with 5-6 top guys each administering a crew of their own. There wasn't much appetite for it.