The last big war had such a magnitude that we are still rebuilding from those days. We started out this new era with only two Godfathers. A few weeks ago we had a third and we were anxiously waiting for two more city heads to meet the rank they deserved and were already filling. Some are even looking forward to LV having its own Godfather (I'm on the fence on that one, LV has proven to be highly entertaining for me and it is precisely due to its lack of stability and an agreed upon city head). We still have empty cities in which we don't have any influence, if you needed even more proof that there is still a long way to go until we can say we are fully rebuilt. About a week ago, a quick succession of take down set us back even further!

One of the reasons for the removal of the latest crime syndicate in Detroit was the way some of its members abused and directed insults towards our friends in Philly.

A very cunning and treacherous man, fortunally now deceased, recently reminded me of that old saying that speaks about building bridges and not walls.

With all this in mind comes my original question. How abrasive can we afford to be? If we intend to live long and prosper; if we truly believe that this way of life is about money and not about blood; if we don't want to be guessing who might be plotting our removal... can we afford to be anything less than ladies and gentlemen when interacting with people, specially those who work based on a different region than ourselves?

I like to be as respectful as possible when addressing people anywhere I am. Be it the streets, or even the privacy of my own HQ or messages, I try to be on my best behavior. Yes, I admit it, I have a tendency to try to bitch slap those who disrespect me or when I'm being met with sarcasm or any other form of "I believe I'm better than you and I'm going to show it to your face" attitude.

We've seen examples in the past of people who got away with saying the most ludicrous things and just plain insults, even to godfathers. Of course those people had the power to afford that. However, those people were also despised behind their backs and people wished their deaths almost all the times.

So this is a tangent that we can also explore. Would you enjoy being able to get away with that kind of disrespect even if it meant that at least a bit over half our population wishes you were dead?


So, just in case my own thoughts weren't clearly inferred from my previous comments, I'll share my own views (God, how I hate people who come out here presenting questions without giving their own opinion. As if they had the right to question us and expect us to give more effort in the response than they put into the question).

I think that the stronger the city, the more abrasive you can afford to be. However, I wouldn't want to take advantage of that. Even if I can afford to be a little abrasive, I will try to hold my tongue, think about what I realy mean and present my idea in a gentle tone. Like I said before, if you hear me being nasty, it's because I feel I have been disrespected.

I think we can be much more efficient and prosperous if we try to get along with everybody. Sure, if somebody is proving to get out of hands and proves to be a threat we can remove a crew or an entire city, but I wish we can get to a point where all conflicts can be solved through diplomacy.

In a way, I think the GFC was a genuine attempt to achieve this. As long as every city head is given a voice in there, the stronger cities will prove to the weaker cities their intention isn't to bully them around and the weaker cities can feel a bit more secure about their place in this world and grow strong with the help, advice and guidance of more experienced Godfathers.

This way we will be able to rebuild in record time and with strong bonds that will ensure wars don't come around so often while at the same time avoiding stagnation since power is being shared and evreybody is building up at their own pace and with their own style without stepping on anybody's toes.

Thank you for your time, and I truly look forward to your replies.

I've always felt it's best to treat friend or enemy, big or small, peasant or prince, young or old like gold.

Why?

Luke 6:31 sums it up for me:  "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise."

I agree with your opinion Abel, and I agree with anyone who agrees with me.

But really, I do think it's sometimes funny to read and listen to all the slander being tossed around by those who perceive themselves powerful. The problems start at the top. This thing of ours is essentially a business. And like a business, standards equal success. Leaders must hold their subordinates to high standards and the moment we start letting Standard A or Standard B start to slip, that's when Standards X Y and Z also fade away until we have a community full of hostile mobsters aching to place bullets in skulls.

Strong mafiaso and cities can flex and grunt all they want, but as we've seen before, you can only do that so much before it backfires and you find yourself with maggots crawling around in your brain. 

the loud mouth annoying shit talker is as only powerful as the man that backs him up.

Yes, but why be a shit talker in the first place? Even if you get away with it, is it beneficial in the long run?

The irony is that when someone comes on to these streets and starts gobbing off about something totally irrelevant, usually, the more contentious it is then the more responses they tend to receive.

When someone steps up here and presents an interesting speech in a well spoken fashion it just doesn't tend to provoke such passion and discussion.

The irony of the irony is that guys like you always surface also, Zazzarito.

That definitely came off wrong, wasn't intended to sound malicious, lol! 

What I meant was, even though guys like you can see the difference in a good subject/debate/topic to discuss, most will overlook this speech and others like it without offering a single comment, but those who come here and bring up something completely irrelevent seem to get much more attention. 

Sadly, I agree with you. But one can have a battle of wits about irrelevant stuff and it's just for fun, but what happens when addressing people from other cities and about issues of moderate importance at least?

Doogle also provides a interesting point. I guess it is more time consuming and tiring to come up with a reply to this sort of debate than to just put together a couple of silly words to keep the fun going...

Shit talkers and general naysayers do what they do because they enjoy the responses they drawn from others. When people get irrate and throw out irrational responses, the shit talker gets great joy out of it.

OK, fair enough. But that group of people you describe have very little to lose. I was thinking about other people, higher ranked that seemed to be more forward than necessary when talking to other people.

With great power comes great paranoia and with great paranoia comes abuse of said power not saying all the big names in this ordeal were paranoid and some may have acted with reason but many did not. Years and years ago things were ran differently but I don't want to be that guy talking about how "ye olden days" were. Let us take note of any & all mistakes that were made and start containing our intelligence within our upper structures and acknowledge that running mouths is not a reason to jeapordize lives and then say whoopsie.

whoopsie.

I would have to agree with you,
Although.. anyone can get auth. It Just takes making the correct choices
At the right time. You seem to have a preety level head,

May I ask
Why not,
stand up and make your mark to do something about it.

This isn't a tea party. This way of life is about both blood and money and the ones that believe this are both ladies and gentlemen but also criminals and thieves. I've heard it time and time again and I'll say it again, we are the types of people that cheat and lie and steal. If we can afford the blood, the money and the power that comes with both then we'll use that to our advantage and be as abrasive as we want to be.

Being abrasive is not exactly being disrespectful. Although they often come hand in hand, it doesn't mean that if a person is being confident in their actions or their words that their true intent was to be disrespectful. We may be criminals, but respect is, or should be held, very high in the life we've made for ourselves.

Able, are you're thoughts about being abrasive or being respectful?

Great speech Abel.

I from what I heard here there is really nothing else to say on my behalf, other then it has certainly drifted a ways away from what our first forefathers had in mind for this life style. Im pretty sure back then people were more worried about making some money, and progressing, of course sometimes conflicts happen, and people should be ready for when they do.

If it was me, well its only my way of doing things, but I would rather have respect for what I did in my time then the other route, ive always been one to believe that we all bleed the same, no one is invisible, we all will die eventually. So the only thing that makes you better then the next guy, is what you did with your time while you were here.

Really just comes down to, do you want to be remembered as a peace of shit, or not.

Exile, I guess I should have used a better word, but I thought that "abrasive" painted the picture I wanted. I didn't say "aggressive" which etymologically means "going forward" and that can be a good thing. I meant somebody that creates friction and ruins relationships out of repeated and frequent display of rudeness. So in my mind, your last question is no question at all.

I'm talking about disrespect, even if it's not intentional. Maybe somebody comes out here and asks me what the fuck is wrong with me and how I can be such an idiot. That person may not intend disrespect, but his way of going about it certainly is.

Stiz, I agree with you, everybody can get auth, provided they work hard and never (or hardly ever) talk balk at their superiors. However, not sure what you mean with your last comment. I didn't really come out here to say that people are being abrasive. Last time I heard about people being abrasive enough for me to worry about was over a month ago. I'm just debating whether you'd like to be abrasive if you were powerful enough to get away with it or if you'd try to remain always a gentleman.

Xiphos stands in the crowd, trying not to be noticed. He listens to what his fellows have to say, and let's the words sink in before giving his own opinion.

Honestly, I'd have to say that being abrasive has it's uses, but not to be over used. You want the others to respect you? You have to show you're capable of respect as well. You don't do that by going around be rude to people and trying to be the tough guy all the time. You have to kill with kindness as well. You'll go a lot farther, most of the time, if you treat people with respect, and don't talk down to them. People tend to not care what people think, when the person thinking looks down on everyone, and acts like they're above them all. Especially when the person hasn't earned the feeling. When you've earned the respect, people will continue to respect you, or respect you even more, if you continue your kindred ways and still treat others with respect. I know what a lot of you are going to say, "this is the mob, kindred isn't exactly a word used to describe us". But disrespect creates enemies, respect earns you allies and friends. As I've stated already, being abrasive has it's uses, but is not to be taken over the top.

My father always told me that war is deception. You must appear weak when you are strong. When ready to attack, you must seem to far away to threaten. When organized, you must seem in disarray. If you appear to be friends with someone who you consider an enemy, you have an advantage, and get closer to said enemy.

All in all, I believe abrasive should be used sparingly, when it will suit you, but seeing as it doesn't always suit the situation you must have other options that will bring you greater advantage.

After his mad rant, he looks side to side looking to disappear into the crowd once more.

"If you appear to be friends with someone who you consider an enemy, you have an advantage, and get closer to said enemy."

I know that this is an effective war tool, but considering the particular circumstances of this world, I really worry about people who are able and willing to pull this off. So many people say that one of the great things about MafiaReturns is that the sons of mobsters can carry on a friendship that can carry on through generations, so to consider the life of a single mobster more important than the friendship that can last generations is sad, in my opinion.