Accountability. A lot has been made of this word recently, but what does it mean?

In short - do the movers and shakers advise their subjects sufficiently, and take responsibility for their actions? Do they progress the country in a healthy manner, or simply suppress the proletariat for their own ends - to allow for an easier reign with less conflicts in order to build up a war chest for future kin?

Questions are what allow us to investigate the accountability of our leaders, so let's delve...

Activity levels

First things first. Activity. This is a marker of the commitment to the betterment of our thing. It shows how great of a priority a leader, or regime considers their kingdom, and judging by the activity levels of some of the current crop... well, I'll allow you to gauge that, my fellow mafioso.

Chairmen:

Three visit their domain so infrequently that my informants noted their activity as "Obscenely Low".

One "Low", one "Average", and only one putting in more time than the faceless peons funding their empire.

Since I am an advocate of giving credit where it is due - kudos to the central Detroit outfit for an impressive "at desk" frequency - "Insanely High". Impressive dedication, just a shame more don't follow your lead.

Godfathers:

Slightly better than their bosses, but still fairly mediocre attendance for the most part.

Nevertheless, two "Insanely High", two "Average" and one "Extremely Low".

Crew Leaders:

Now, for those who either haven't put in enough work to earn the Godfather title, or aren't in the right friend circle / telegram group - the ones who simply front an organisation yet have no real say in the progression of our thing. The Crew Leaders.

I actually thought this group would be the ones putting in the hours to prove their worth as a Godfather for when the next city is considered inexplicably expendable and is subsequently butchered - scorched earth style.

Alas, two "Obscenely Low", two "Extremely Low", one "Average", one "Extremely High" and only one "Insanely High".

Hands:

This one is a larger sample group, so hopefully we'll see better attendance of our representatives? Perhaps, even, less polarization of activity; not the feast or famine we have seen so far?

Insanely High - 8
Obscenely High - 5
Extremely High - 3
High - 7
Average - 5
Low - 10
Extremely Low - 11
Obscenely Low - 7
Insanely Low - 2

As a simplified whole, 23 above average, 30 below average, attendance-wise. Hmmm, if only these were positions which could be cycled to more deserving people - people who are better able to afford more time in the country...

As we can see; activity of our upper structure is very much 'hit and miss' currently. Perhaps they do a lot with their time whilst here - healthy debates, street discussions, community events and whatnot though, right? Well, lets look!

Speeches

Speeches are the mark of how we are perceived, how the greater world views us, and even simpler than that - it gives us an idea of what a person considers important, and the issues they find crucial or conversely - abhorrent. So what do we really know about the folk running the show? Lets see, shall we?

Since we don't have all day to stand and assess verbosity, I shall stick to the top of the pyramid; the GFCs.

Auth/GF(C) Speech:

Once considered an essential introduction to the masses, an auth speech is oftentimes the first contact many will have with any new leader. It seems, however, that an auth speech is little more than a courtesy these days.

From what my scouts could hear, only half of the current batch of city leaders formally introduced themselves in any real way, with the other half perhaps being overwhelmed with the scale of work? Who can say? What I will say is that if this is a tradition that is dying out, then it is a genuine shame. If nothing else, speeches are vital for posterity's sake, in my humble opinion.

Street Discussions:

We can tell a lot from a leader by their views of the events around us, and how our leaders verbalize themselves in public speeches and in the streets generally. From what I've seen and heard, three of our GFCs have less than 10 public appearances and two haven't even managed to attend 5 discussions on the streets.

Perhaps activity and speeches aren't the forte of this current crop. Whilst longevity can be considered a factor for stage fright for us lesser mortals, for those who are untouchable by the vast majority of people, to be habitually mute seems somewhat... craven.

Responsibility:

Removals:

Of the last three removals, only one was even acknowledged on the streets, much less discussed and debated. The one takedown which was mentioned was, frankly, curt and blunt.

At least the kin of those slain were afforded reasons for the destruction, however opaque those reasons may have been. For those not afforded the same luxury, yet left still wondering why, I have been informed that the reasoning is much the same - malevolent cronyism and appeasement.

On the whole, not terrible but not stellar either.

Better than the last bunch? Sure, but lets be honest - that wouldn't be difficult.
Certainly room for improvement.

C-minus.

Rosalia was walking around the streets as usual. Mostly it had been quiet people conducting their business as usual. Money  was being made, coppers  were being thwarted.  No one walked these  streets in fear of being cut down simply for having a differing opinion.  You could say it was a Golden age compared to regimes in the recent history of these streets. 

Yet, there seemed to be someone who was not happy and appeared to be trying to cause an uprising amongst the criminals in these lands. She was  not ignored the spiel until she heard mention of the hands to crew leaders in this country.  Now she was just a girl child but in mentioning them he was talking directly about her so she stood and listened. 

Contemplating as she listened...

Was this speaker just trying to cause issues? and if so why? what did they have to gain if they caused an issue.

Why would the speaker want  Godfathers to be making a presence in the streets, after all didn't  they already put in the work to get where they were, and now they are helping those they lead to garner their life goals? 

Why did the speaker not question whether these people he thinks are absent are off taking care of business to better their cities?  All the cities seemed to be running smoothly what is the intention of this speaker to call out the activity of the leaders. Obviously they are doing something right, if all the cities have been prosperous and no unwarranted deaths have occurred.

Her thoughts continued spinning like a web through  her mind.

Why did the speaker not mention the several authorization posts that she had seen in business districts across the land ?

Was the speaker trying to paint a false narrative?

Or where they simply not as informed as they thought they were.  Events non existent, well damn thought  the girl child this speaker must have never been to one  Philadelphia's events or one of Las Vegas's events  or Los Angeles's  new events. 

She raised a hand to her  temple and rubbed in a circular motion. This speech and all the rambling thoughts  it caused were giving her a headache. So Rosalia took her leave from the speech to find herself a nice ice cream cone. 

When things are working and people are making money do we need a lot of intervention from upper structures and hand holding?  They have a responsibility to their individual districts and cities, and so long as that is met I fail to see a major issue?  A leaders job is to lead, and when things are running smoothly they should (in theory) have not much to intervene in.   Sure, it would be awesome to have all upper structures be very active - but one can safely assume that at some point they had to be in order to get too the position they are today.  Doesn't everyone deserve a break?

It would almost appear as if you would desire more of a micro-management style of leadership with every action sanctioned and authorised by GFCs, GFs, or Crew Leaders.

As for presence in the streets, this is an argument that is as old as the streets themselves.  One I don't find much justification in.  Would it be nice to see more of a presence from leadership?  Sure.  Is it necessary?  No.   Things are running fine without it.  

When it comes to your issue around auth announcements, that is another 'nice to have' in my opinion.  Does it benefit you to see such activity in the streets?  I doubt it.  Messages will be relayed across appropriate structures for anybody given their moment in the spotlight.  The rest of us, for the most part, are on a need to know basis.  And do you *really* need to know?  I'd assume every crew has a rule about not opening fire on people without permission, so one could assume that if you haven't been told and haven't been given an order to fire that it's sanctioned.  Frankly, if anything, I believe it would be just generally nice for all new leadership to see messages of congratulations - but do not mistake a lack of street activity for some as it not happening as it can, and does, take place in many other areas.

I also take note that you, Seymour, do report to a Godfather yourself.  One of the groups you specifically call out.  Have you had this discussion with your leader before airing your grievances on the streets?

Hello Peter, thanks for replying. It’s always good to have someone able to verbalize their thoughts, and to take the lectern opposite.

So your opinion is that whilst these things would be beneficial to us as a society, it’s not worth the effort to petition for the change you concede would benefit us all? Personally I disagree.

Furthermore I wouldn’t say I “called out” any group. All the information relayed is open source information, available for all to see, I simply collated it in one place. I would even go so far as to point out that I praised the work ethic of one man who clearly does go above and beyond simply collecting a cut of his crew’s operations.

Finally, if my boss considers what I have said to have overstepped any boundaries, I’m sure you’ll see one of two things; a public apology or a corpse in the morgue, depending on how far I am deemed to have overstepped. I don’t fear the reaper though, so why would I fear voicing my opinion?

I didn't say it wasn't worth the effort, but whilst they are 'nice to have' issues they are not something that will directly impact any mafioso in a positive or negative way other than, perhaps, some more info on things that ultimately are not of their concern or ability to change.   

I also never stated that any petition for change shouldn't happen.  I'm all for change, however there are ways and means that make it better.  A public announcement wouldn't seem to be gathering the support you'd require to make such change.  I'm sure if you were to ask for a sit down with the leadership, that you personally feel aren't meeting your standards, that many if not all would oblige and hear your points.  Whether they agreed would be another matter.

I would disagree in your opinion that you haven't called anybody out.  By giving a shout out to one in particular, which it isn't hard to work out which, and providing concern over the levels of others you most certainly have called them out.  You've essentially stated that they should be striving for the same levels of commitment as one leader - that many are not in the same city of.  Putting that to one side, I will ask again, do we need a lot of intervention from upper structures and hand holding?   Does it ultimately matter or ruin your own experiences of being a mafioso?  

I don't believe anybody is suggesting you should 'fear the reaper', that would be an internal matter and not something for a streets discussion.  By all means, please continue to voice your opinion.  Nobody is stopping anybody from doing so, and that is a sign of healthy citizenship, however I do ask again have you raised your concerns with your leader before airing them on the streets?  That, to me at least, is a sign of respect before making any perceived issues you have public domain.  

Ultimately the role of a GFC, GC and Crew Leader is to run their individual districts and cities.  If that is happening, and there is no anarchy or chaos, people are happy, money is being made, then what exactly is the issue?  Certainly, improvements can always be made to any process, and no doubt private discussions can and should be had, but is it at a crisis point that needs public scrutiny?  I think not.

So it’s my use of the streets to open up discussion you disagree with then? Is that not what the streets are for? Somewhere to voice opinions and ideas - to host discussions and debate differing ideas? As you have conceded these things would be “nice to have”, surely you also accept that this discussion is not without merit? So why should I not make it public and accessible to all who want to voice an opinion?

Very well, it’s your opinion that I called somebody out. Who, specifically, did I call out? Who have I named? Like I said previously... the information provided is not hidden away, it’s visible to anyone who cares to look. All I did was to take out some of the legwork for anyone interested in some of the points I have raised. Furthermore the information provided lends credence to my opinion, so to remove the facts would reduce this discussion to slander - and I wouldn’t want to be disrespectful.

I have no issues with my boss. She has been helpful, friendly and communicative. We have had several lengthy discussions about a number of things, and she knows my feelings toward certain corners. I fail to see how your opinion of my conduct is in any way pertinent though?

I also don’t see why scrutiny is a bad thing, if “improvements can always be made”? Discord is more likely to evoke change than sycophancy is...

Having found a new recipe, Tammy was handing out free small sample slices of the Coconut Custard and Rhubarb Tart she had just created, when she heard Seymour address the nation with a speech. As she just handed PeterMcNeil a piece, Tammy listened to Seymour and wondered what her own thought on the subject actually were.

Accountability.. she murmured

That'd be the last thing they can hold me accountable for.

As she moved on to find the next onhearer, she kept listening. Tammy was rather selective in what she listened to, she always felt she was a 'slow onhearer', making her less responsive on the Streets than elsewhere, in the city of Philadelphia or even her bakery.

My bakery..!

Tammy realized that her current 'Today's Special Custard Dish' actually was last week's, and she made a mental note to go there today, after she had finished handing out custard samples. Meanwhile, she listened to Seymour, who continued their well thought over, comprehensive analytics of the country's leaders and the time they were spending leading. After a while, Tammy decided to step forward, partly as there were some onhearers there who didn't have had the opportunity to taste the tart yet.

First of all, Seymour. Thank you for sticking your neck out. It's not the easiest topic to bring forward, and I like that you are not licking any heels whilst doing so. Tammy smiled.
Then.. I am not sure what your informants include to calculate their activity, but I reckon most Godfathers and Godfather Chairmen probably spend additional time in meetings your informants aren't aware of. But yes, I agree, without mentioning names, as you don't either, Takkar is an absolute gem. Apart from that fact, I wouldn't steer too much on those numbers.

Are they running their businesses well? So they mind having clumps in their custard? Do they make the decisions they have to make..?

Those are the questions that are, from my perspective, more important for this group.

Having handed a slice to an onhearer, Tammy smiled and continued

I will give you an example, because I believe I know the Godfather you mention as having their office-attending-frequency as extremely low. This very Godfather authed me and this very Godfather always is ready to answer any question I have, open to any suggestion I make and he always comes back at me swiftly, even if he isn't seen in his office much.

Realizing Tammy spent way more time on the Godfather topic than Seymour had, she went a step down, too.

Crewleaders.. I will be the first to admit that our's is mediocre at best, but she never pretended to be better either, so I guess with that she lives up to her expectations, right? Especially if you say they 'have no real say in the progression of our thing' anyway. Then it doesn't really matter how much visible time they spend, does it?

As far as you mention the speeches and street presence, I can only agree. I enjoy insightful Streets speeches, but it is the way it is. The current Godfathers have clearly earned their marks the way they did and they did not need to address the masses to do so. That's the end of the discussion, really.. isn't it?

Now onto the most important question, Seymour..

Tammy stretched out her arms, offering Seymour a slice of the pie that had a relatively high presence

Do you like the cocunut and rhubarb combination with custard?

Tammy paused for a moment, then added

Personally, I do feel it as a requirement for those that have their fathers, mothers, brothers or sisters removed in a massive operation that some reasoning behind it is given. Not only because it's respectful to the kin, but also because it leaves noone guessing, in doubt, making conspiracies theories as to what the matter was about. Give a speech and people can call it nonsense, or believe it, but at least the official reason is given.

After her initial reply, Tammy continued to hand out slices of pie, as she kept on listening to Seymour, PeterMcNeil and Rosalia-Orazia. After all, Tammy was a slow listener

Everyone here starts out on a mission to be better than the ones they removed to take power.  The unfortunate cycle is that once all the work is put in and said people have achieved their goal at global mafia domination, they are in fact nearly untouchable to most of the community and they are able to coast and do nothing.  Happened before, is happening here and will happen again.

Sarcasm I would disagree. With the majority of measures used to identify trained hitmen no longer available to this regime, the leadership groups shave had to rely on other methods to assure their longevity. Principally, diplomacy and engagement. 

I was not party to the revolution which swept the land of the last leadership structure. Rumours have however circulated that members of that ambitious group were able to train their abilities to a standard of Godfather toppling magnitude in just over a month, some even less. If that is the case, and considering the time that has passed, we must surely be in a position where those who wish to disrupt the status quo would be in a position to?

It has never really been my focus as to who can kill who, I believe that is the wrong way to approach a "successful" career in this life. Attention should instead be drawn to reputation and contribution. How invested are people in the current era? What lengths to do they go to to maintain peace? What do they do with the time they are given? If the key decision makers are currently asking these questions, rather than tracking killing abilities and letting paranoia fester, then we're on the right track. 

In short, these days it doesn't take much for Joe Nobody to rank up and do something about it, at all. What counts is what we do to satisfy the expectations of those who are spending their time here, and the individual motivations of our members. The leadership groups today are as vulnerable as they've always been, if not more so, and certainly as vulnerable as the previous regime. Previously, goals have been making it to that magical number of days alive, to obtain the highest rank or to own the biggest gun. For those of us with an agenda which stretches beyond that, we're grateful for the diplomatic efforts which allow other methods of entertainment to be tested, which would only be possible during a time of peace.

I went on a bit, apologies, but happy to go through this further if you believe different.

I don't really think it's diplomacy and engagement.  I think it's just a lot of bodyguards, really.  

Am I paranoid?  Heck, no.  In my opinion, You'd paralyze yourself if all you did was worry about where your killer was coming from.  Hell, I didn't even know that the previous regime had godfather toppling power in these times.  Are you suggesting that you've been able to engage them and quell their thirst for blood?  All in all, I'd say I missed something there - which leads me to my next point...

I guess I in fact agree with just about everything you have stated here, except for the engaging part.  However, I am just happy to agree to disagree.  I believe that time passed us a little while ago, and the majority of the current leadership structure is happy to just have a lot of BG's and realize that engaging people isn't needed to stay out of the casket.  

Having caught up on what she was listening to, Tammy stepped towards Rosalia-Orazia she noticed her finger moving over her temple. Tammy, despite being mediocre at waitressing, was excellent in reading people's minds, at least.. She thought she was.

I know what you're thinking, Rosalia, you probably are worried about where you left your whisk.. right? Don't worry. I have already done the whisking.. Then used the result in this delicious tart. Would you care to try?

Tammy listened on and heard a healthy discussion between Seymour and PeterMcNeil. The discussion was rather entertaining and she certainly understood PeterMcNeil's point of view. The regime seemed to be working indeed. She just wondered why Peter did not try the cake. Maybe he was rhubarb-intolerant?

As Sarcasm entered the discussion, she wondered how to take what they said. Was he being sarcastic, saying that the current leaders were untouchable at the moment. Tammy personally had never heard of any more touchable regime than the current one. Literally. Well, not literally, but in the illiteral sense of the word, it could be literally. But before she could even get her thoughts straight, JackMezzo was there to word her thought seventytwo times better than she could herself. Tammy knew JackMezzo liked custard, but she wasn't sure on the coconut.. She stepped towards the already legendary Don and offered him a sample.

Don Mezzo.. Tammy said with a smile, before she turned towards Sarcasm to offer them a piece as well. She added

Well.. I have to agree with JackMezzo here, Sarcasm, it's not the protection. Like JackMezzo, I was not here either when the revolution took place. And the current situation.. Well.. To me, this current peace seems to something I never witnessed, nor have my family, as far as they've told me. Not just that there seems to be a long peace, but the fact that there are so many trained shooters around and we see no rogueing, no protesting, many people that are given the chance to lead..

Shifting her look to Seymour and winking, Tammy added

Of course.. Not all are equally acttive, but still.. To be honest, I find it quite impressive to witness the current state of affairs.

It's surprising to me that there is a belief that Bodyguard protection is such a barrier between life and death. It may sound stupid, but I've never taken my protection level for granted. Soon as you start acting like you're untouchable, you're on a slippery slope to the grave. I expect that the natural evolution of protection is intended to be gradual over time, as your relationships develop at the same pace.

You make a good point about quelling the individuals whose parents you may have had a hand in removing. Difficult to answer, and would depend on the reasoning behind it. If we were to generalize, I expect there will always be a potential for bitterness. Vengeance is a perfectly plausible reason for shooting someone up, however personally, I wouldn't disrupt a peaceful era in the name of my father. If someone is doing a better job than me, I'll leave them to it. Same goes if they think they can do a better job than me, or the city, or the entire regime. Take your shot, it keeps me on my toes to do the best I can knowing someone younger and with more energy is snapping at my heels. Just make sure you're up to the task once the easy bit is done!

Jack accepts the custard from Tammy and licks his spoon clean.

I'm never going to assume I'm untouchable, and I'm not about to take my foot off the pedal. Where I'm not maintaining relationships, there's a risk to my future on these streets. Where I'm not engaging my crew, there's a risk of losing loyalty and support. If the day comes where I begin to run short of breath and effort, I'll find someone with the energy required to pick up what I'm doing and run with it. I'll happily fade into retirement, destined to collapse of heart falure in an orchard, somewhere near the beach.

Considering the time we've been able to enjoy, I expect something is being done right. There have been some hiccups to that, as you would expect in a world of guns and money, but I see opportunities now that were not there before. I'm happy to do what I can to help maintain that. 

Like I said - we can agree to disagree.  Let's be friends!!

I'd like to point that I've never seen any leadership group succeed at leading without at least 181 bodyguards and large guns.  It doesn't  matter if they were dictators or diplomats, orators or mutes, nice guys or assholes.  This regime, much like the one before it, and the one before that, and the one before that and the one before that are all the same in that aspect.  That was all I was saying.  How you do it is your bag, baby!!

I'm not here to debate how great you guys are.  Even if I've never spoken to you - you're all wonderful in my eyes!!

Yeah, I've raised a proposal to try leading without the bodyguard hoard before. I'm reminded there will likely always be someone who will try and ruin your day though, just because they're able to. 

We can disagree if you like, I'm not sure what over but you seem happy enough about it, so that's good enough for me!

And not to ignore Seymour's original speech, as I've mentioned to you privately it's always refreshing to get the opportunity to discuss these things in the public eye and I appreciate the purpose behind this one. Too many decisions get made behind closed doors, I enjoy seeing feedback and opinions in the streets. Especially where it triggers a healthy debate. Salut, my friend.

JackMiller had just finished a long day of emancipating folks from 'unjust' prison sentences when he ran into a small crowd gathered around another soapbox orator. Jack had seen myriads of these discussions which he had largely ignored up to that point, but something compelled him to listen to this one in particular and he had a couple minutes to spare before he had somewhere to be so he did.

It was a poor decision on his part as he found himself yawning and glancing at his watch as the speech dragged on and on and on. It was nothing new. A smidge of provocation for added attention and engagement? Check. A challenge to those in power? Check. Attempting polarization in order to drum up even more attention? Questionable but Jack gave it a tentative check as he picked up on a faint possibility of that intent. This sounded as textbook as they come from what he's read from his father's journals on his experiences in the criminal underworld and his father before him and his father before him and his fa—you get the idea. After quietly observing several rounds of discussion from the usual suspects, such as the other (currently) more prolific of the two Jacks, while trying his hardest not to fall asleep right then and there, JackMiller finally had the opportunity to let his voice be heard so he stepped right up and spoke.

"As one of the people you have lauded for our respective work ethics, I have to say: this 'bombshell' of a report on the current regime seems lacking in effort. While I believe in giving voice to the majority or putting out there what most people feel, I would expect more initial insight than being handed a report card by Ms. Smith from kindergarten and a good boy star stamp on my right knuckle, you know? I'm not much of a talker in these streets myself as I prefer focusing on my actions speaking louder than whatever running my mouth leads to, but these seemingly dime-a-dozen discussions would surely benefit from more insight, interesting flair, or maybe even more journalistic depth methinks," JackMiller absentmindedly rattled off.

"I mean, as much as these exposés are welcome, there is something disingenuous here as it seems to not shine a spotlight on possible reasons for our beloved regime leaders' lack of hands-on involvement, no? There is an influenza pandemic ravaging the mainland after all and I wouldn't fault anyone at the top delegating several of their responsibilities to their subordinates so that they can keep a closer eye on their old family in Sicily and Tuscany. A—"

Jack's tirade abruptly came to a halt as the timepiece on his wrist struck a certain configuration.

"Apologies, I'll have to cut this short as duty calls. I take that I would have made some sensible statements from several minutes of rambling, at least?" JackMiller asked out loud before giving his best (not that good) attempt at a curtsey and scurrying off to a business meeting.

These things always turn into a bunch of Dons talking about what a great job they are doing Y’all will be shooting each other by next week. Anyway. I think the topic at hand was accountability. For the record, I don’t think that the current leaders are being very accountable to their members.
 

Sarcasm pauses so everyone’s jaw can drop to the floor before he continues.

Call me crazy. Call me a shit disturber. Call me whatever you want. For the most part, that’s my opinion. I watch wise guys put in more work than made members of the crew and see no acknowledgment or promotion. I see leaders not communicating with their members - at all. Hell, there’s wiseguys who have worked harder and accomplished more in 1/3rd the time than a recent auth. That’s a fact. I see leaders making a thug a right hand, which to me is there equivalent of flicking your thumb at a hard working consigliere or boss in the crew. 
 

Don’t tell me any of that is accountable. 

They can tell me they’re doing a great job. They can tell me they’re doing better than the previous regime. They can even say they’d do better than this so called person whom you think can challenge them - but please spare me the argument that the leaders are accountable. Generally speaking, they’re not and they don’t have to be.

Honesty rode up to where Seymour was. Well, rode up is underselling it quite a bit. Honesty was on a binge of maple syrup for the past 2 weeks and his blood sugar got so high that he would blackout periodically. And one of his blackouts happened just before he got into the car. Good thing it was in the dark of night that Honesty was driving because no cops were on his tail and Honesty was swerving the car left to right quite sporadically. He smashed into a pole and 3 minutes later, he opened the door and the Canadian limply drooped to the floor, still clutching his maple syrup bottle. With his back to the floor and his legs lying on the front seat of the heavily damaged car, Honesty took one final swig of the maple syrup and rose very slowly to his feet. He then addressed Seymour with hiccups periodically interrupting his own speech:

"Hello there, my good *hiccup* sir. I see that you like to speak big words. As big as my *hiccup* love for maple syrup, and that's hard to beat. I understand that you're speaking about the upper structures' activity level and, to some level, I can see why someone of your small stature might have some gripes with it. Now, *hiccup* I'm not here to address the activity of the other high ranking members of this thing of ours. They have their reasons, and my business occupies me enough that I don't have time to wonder what others do with their lives. "hiccup" What I will say is that, from what the local dope peddlers have told me, is that they only trust you with about 20 units of dope to sling, a number you've achieved in 34 days mingling within our messed up world. Some may say, in fact many will say, that it is quite unimpressive to reach that trust level with these dealers in that amount of time roaming the same streets as us. Furthermore *hiccup*, my informants in the post offices have also told me you've only sent 26 pieces of mail in your days of "minor" crime. I see you're *hiccup* not a man that speaks to many. You know what I say? I think you're a very inactive mobster in this life of ours. I say that, whether or not your assertions are valid or not, that you are being hypocritical. At the very least, I might ask who are you to speak on this subject, seeing as you're ill-fitted to speak on such matters."

With a last hiccup, Honesty rummaged through his pockets to find a flask of maple syrup, but, sadly, there wasn't any. Feeling resigned, Honesty said one last thing to Seymour:

On the whole, not terrible but not stellar either.

Better than some other mobsters? Sure. However, let's be honest - it really isn't difficult reaching the same status as you have.
Certainly room for improvement.

C-minus.

To be candid, accusing my speech of dragging “on and on and on”, before declaring your own response “rambling”, without the slightest hint of irony is, frankly, more disingenuous than anything I have said. Nevertheless, I shall attempt to rebut your rebuke as concisely as possible - hopefully before narcolepsy strikes, Mr Miller.

Firstly - and I would include you in this musing too, Honesty - ad hominem attacks? If you wish to discuss the merits of my speech, have at it! I welcome healthy discourse, but let’s at least attempt to refute the central point instead of resorting to snide remarks about investigative style, my merits as an orator or my pocket capacity.

Insofar as offering insight, I’ll boil this down for you: -

Accountability and absenteeism are entirely incongruous. Surely that much is relatively obvious? How can you be held accountable if you’re not present? Subcontractoring the responsibilities of your tenure to a subordinate because you’re in an old country coma is not the actions of an accountable leader. Hopefully we can agree on that much, at least?

Now, on to your other points... oh, wait. Seems like we’re out. All those words to point out the influenza outbreak may be the reason for the mass absenteeism at the top. Perhaps that’s an example of the flair I lack.

Rosalia had strolled down the street to try and find some ice cream. She really wanted  a couple scoops of Coffee bean ice cream. But no one in town seemed to have any so she wandered back down the and saw that more people had gathered at the street corner where Seymour was screaming about accountability. As other spoke with she scanned the headlines of the National paper she picked up so that her trip wasn't a complete loss. 

 She had just finished the front page article when a kind woman handed her a  custard tart. Tammy must have heard  Rosa's stomach grumbling. She popped the tart in her and thanked her kindly, it wasn't coffee bean ice cream but it did the trick.   

Rosalia politely waited for the others to speak before she made eye contact with Seymour and cleared her throat. 

"First off  if I want to wander off and think about a few things before verbally interacting with any person of any rank."   she paused a brief moment "I will."  she smiled sweetly.  

"You  seem to not comprehend that I am am only fifteen, which means I can not possibly communicate on an adult level without some prior thought put into it. I still fail at times, but I am a child still  learning"  She paused another moment  as she pulled the National paper from under her arm and scanned the front page quickly. 

"You come out here to this nice street corner and bring up the topic of accountability for what purpose?" She paused for a few moments giving  Seymour a chance to respond , but being a child and bit impatient as children often  are she decided to continue. 

"Now I am just a child, but after reading the front page story of the National Paper I can't but wonder that the praise this regime has gotten from the Mayor himself has triggered this need in you to cause some kind of rift among the peaceful business holdings that are under way at present."  Rosalia holds up her left hand palm towards Seymore to pause him from the response he was about to make.  "Before you say no let me direct everyone's attention to this quote from the Mayor himself."

"It all comes down to accountability - if the people at the top stay sane as demonstrated by the last few months, and the userbase at the bottom holds them accountable - then we can start to revert back to some old ways and start turning on many new features that we felt would not suitable if the top did not have any interest in the bottom 95%." 

The National Paper

"You speak of this regimes accountability in bad terms after the Mayor praises it. Without knowing the facts of what business they have had to handle over the last few weeks. Furthermore, what else are the leaders supposed to do once they achieve the role of leader? Let me answer that for you. Teach and train the next generation of leaders. Let me  go on  further to inform you  the best way to train someone is give them the hands on experience." She paused a moment. "Which is what this regime has done."

"So, I wonder why are you hellbent on knocking down the current leadership while they are in the midst of training the future generations?"  She raised an eyebrow. " The regimes in recent past history never had this as their intention, all they did was collect the lower 98 percent's tributes then kill them before they were old enough to develop and learn anything." She shuffled her  feet  nervously as her palms grew sweaty. God she hated speaking in public. 

"Now it is not really my place to speak for other upper structure and their" lack of activity" as you seem to think it is a lack of activity.  The child raised an eyebrow as she tucked the paper back under her arm. 

 "But I am going to say this..."

You are making a false narrative, with inconstant numbers to back it up. I wonder if these numbers you are presenting if they are an average  taken over a period of time?

As it should be. 

Or were they taken from one sitting, to support a false narrative? Miss information is very powerful, because most people will believe everything they hear and not do their own research. "

She turned to leave then a another thought occurred to her. " You know I find it quite disloyal to your city to come out and praise another city, while saying yours is lacking in some other way."

She bit her lower lip and rolled it between her teeth wanting to get this part proper.  "I want to share a piece of advice with you that I myself being so young have been trying to practice."  She raised her chin just high enough to grab Seymour's gaze. 

"A wise woman once told me; A good leader will  praise people in public and reprimand them in private. Now I must really go find some coffee bean ice cream."