Purging has been a buzzword for years around here.  While the word has its obvious negative implications, what is the alternative strategy to eliminating those that could potentially do you harm?  If the purpose of our world is to gain and hold onto power, why would you willingly allow someone equally as hungry for power as the other guy to become strong enough to take you out?  Im not agreeing or disagreeing with the practice, and I'm not arguing whether its wrong or right.  I'm just curious what everyone thinks that a realistic alternative is.  You're gonna be hard-pressed to think of one.  I have given it much thought and can't come up with a strong enough counter to it.  For better or for worse that's really the only play here, and its why we hear identical complaints about it from one regime to the next.  

That being said, I'd welcome any and all ideas on what could be done instead of (for lack of a better term) purging.  No "in a perfect world" scenarios please.  Only ideas that make sense in our little mafia fiefdom here.

It is a lot of effort in the cities to kill a crewleader, you can't do this in a day. It takes so much effort and work.

So if someone with either power hungry ambitions or hatred in their heart joins your family. You have a long time to change their mind onto your side. As a leader its is up to you to turn their heart and want them to fight for you rather than kill you.

If they want power the leader should nurture them to be able to become an underboss, take over a district and if the family expands finally give them a city.

If in all the time that this has happened the person still wants to kill you, I think that is on the leader that they have not done a good enough job and in my mind they deserve the bullet that is heading their way.

As the lineages move on and people see they were given a chance they are much more likely to fight by your side until the end and it may take years and years but eventually their heart will turn.

Is it the easy way? No - the easy way is to keep killing each other for who our lineages were, its the lazy way. It the way the bad crewleaders will act. So you want to know the alternative? Hard work, being a good cl and creating a good relationship with people. 

Take lineages and bloodline feuds out of the equation Xander.   I'm not even talking about people that join a crew with malice in their hearts.  I'm talking strictly strategy among crews and cities, rival or otherwise.  What other strategy is there other than to remove an entity before they become strong enough to kill you first?  Wouldn't a mobster's self-preservation trump everything else?  And yes I know it's unfair for people to be "purged" and it's no fun for people to be kept from being able to operate freely, without knowing they will be killed once they reach certain levels, but what other option is there?  Again I'm not saying it's a good strategy, I'm saying it is of the only option that makes any sense and that is why it is practiced over and over again in various forms.  Heck we can't even have a contest where people write stories in it without purging going on.

Purging is the killing of your own members for no reason or for who their lineage is.

The bigger politics and the killing of cities is not purging having alliances between crews and people killing cities or crews is part of the life in the six cities.

The best way to deal with outside your own crew is to first try to form alliances and good relationships, but at the end of the day if you cannot get on the same page, war is inevitable between cities and sometime you have to shoot first.

If that is the true definition of purging, then I stand corrected Xander.  I believe people have several interpretations of it, similar to the idea of "bloodlining".  In this case, I am referring to the concept of "purging" as in the country-wide killing of certain mobsters, regardless of if they are in one's own crew or not, be it for reasons such as who they were related to, age, or evidence of them packing a canon of a gun.

Purging is the killing of your own members for no reason or for who their lineage is.

That's bloodlining, ya wackadoo

I would say my definition is correct. However it may be that you don't want to kill your member and you get pressure from other cities or your own Godfather to kill that member from the outside of the family.

The thing is if you give into these forces then the original definition stays and you purged that person for no reason than who their lineage was.

In that case you need to stand up to those forces, even if it means your family or city may get killed. You need to find the people who think the same as you and ally yourself to those people. Again if you do this even if you die you prove to the people you lead that they mean something to you.

If your lineage gets that reputation over the years you family line will get stronger and next time someone tries to pressure your family to kill your member, you will have more power and friends to fight back.

I'd respectfully disagree Headcoach.

Bloodling is the overall killing someone's lineage over and over for who they are no matter where they are in the cities. 

Purging is the killing of your OWN member for who their lineage is.

That is believe is the definition

Get this guy a dictionary.

sigh

I'm not fucking TALKING ABOUT LINEAGE REPUTATIONS OR ANY OF THIS SHIT!!!!!  I'm talking about what other strategy is there to hold onto power aside from what ends up inevitably happening regime after regime?  A regime makes it to the top and begins eliminating perceived threats.  There is an outcry of "purging" in the streets until that regime is removed.  Then a new regime takes its place and does the same thing.  Do they do this because they are more or less evil than the previous one?  Or is it more because there is no other viable strategy that makes sense?  That is what we are exploring here, people.

(Hey sorry Xander I lost my cool there for a moment.  I'm just very, very passionate about this topic.  Apologies.  I will be sending you 50k as retribution for my outburst)

I have no problem with your outburst sir. I think you are talking on a larger scope than I am.

The main tactic with overall cities is to have allies in all cities and hold on to power that way.

But at the end of the day death is inevitable whether it by outside influences or otherwise. The best you can do is make sure you keep your alliances strong, the people under you happy and willing to fight to the death for you.

I think some people may believe they are invincible but it just isn't going to happen, until someone ascends to godhood we will all have the long sleep at the end of the road.

Keep alliances strong, keep your members happy, make sure those who want power under you get what they want and at the end of the day if you spread your roots over the six cities the best way you can end is to retire on top to a farm someday. Because if not the bullet will find you eventually.

Frizzlefry, there is no other viable alternative other than to remove the people who haven't earnt your trust before they've spent long enough in this thing of ours to acquire a large enough gun to kill you.

The threat of war between the cities themselves is always a possibility, when this thing of ours is unstable it is exactly that which keeps the tree pruned. When, like during this last regime, all cities are working closely together and in harmony, war is less likely. Wars then stop trimming the herd. Then you are left with the only option being to remove those you don't trust from your own families before they become a threat.

Earn your Crew leaders trust, be a great earner, a loyal soldier and you'll be less likely to eat a bullet. Lurk in the bars and coffee shops, alienate yourself and fail to ingratiate yourself to your leaders and you are asking for a bullet.

It really is that simple.

One time BelleCorsica took out a hit on an intern.  She did this unanonymously, and said that she was permitted to do so because she was only Wise Guy rank and therefore should not be killed for hitlisting a member of another crew (also below Made Man rank).  Since we can't agree on a definition for purging and bloodlining, what is everyone's thoughts on that?