*Gethsemane was ambling about the streets, more aimlessly than usual. He took some time to take in the sights and sounds of the city, the smell of bagels and the cacophony of sirens punctuated by the occasional gunshot bounced around the city. The streets felt so alive and yet, somehow, it felt lifeless and stuck.

Gethsemane had been looking through some reports he had found on criminal activity in the six cities, and it was a head scratcher and something that had been causing him much consternation. He moved towards his soapbox and allowed his thoughts to flow out from his mind and out of his mouth.*

The streets feel empty and lifeless, and I've been trying to understand why until I saw a breakdown of the mafiosa walking our streets. We have become a community of leaders and very few followers; everyone is a Godfather or Don, Consigliere or Boss, and the Goomba's, Earners and Wise Guys of our streets continue to dwindle in number. I think what bothers me, is that I'm the other one bothered.

Am I the only one who sees this as a problem? Is it okay that we are a society of leaders, where rank is largely meaningless, many years ago, wearing a title like Don or Godfather carried some weight, it now feels like something that can be achieved in a few weekends. It's far too easy to be promoted; there is no sense of accomplishment or pride that accompanies it, it's default, it's expected. It should be more than that, and it's up to us as a community if we want this to change. 

*Gethsemane pivots from his soap box, looking across the empty streets and into the high-rise buildings, hiding all the senior leadership from the crime families, wondering if he wasted his words*

Honestly? I disagree with you. The rank DOESN'T mean the man. In my nearly two decades around these shores, I've seen consiglieres, dons and even Godfathers who have been mute. Ranging from 15 years ago until today. It isn't something new at all.

Today is the time for people to come to the streets with whatever they please and yet, few come. Is it because they're dons? I very much doubt that its the rank holding them back. 

I think people have gotten lazier as time has come on. Rank is meaningless, yet, but unfortunately it isn't as simple as just that. Years ago, rank meant a lot more because members were far more involved in their families chats. IRC avenue was usually very full and filled with talkative mafioso, now that Lounge Street is the place to hang, I feel there is more involvement from newer people for sure, but I see the ghosts of dozens, if not hundreds of mafioso who once called this community their home and it is very clearly seen to anyone who's family lines have been around.

My ancestor who first became a captain, I believe he had 40 members and 13 Made Man. Back then, it was much different. Few members of our society had contacts within the FBN for corrupt agents, as they were pretty expensive. Money was so much more difficult to attain then, so really, leaders had to keep their members in line money wise. Times were different, people were automatically taxed compared to the taxation now which city hall implemented some years ago so now you decide yourself what you owe your crew leader.

Now all crews were not the same, but for many, crew leaders usually made sure they were seen in IRC avenue, they were seen helping their fellow men or women with whatever was needed and actively participated in anything their city was doing. Promotions also held a monetary value to some leaders. An ancestor of mine had been in plenty of crews and read the rules that were posted within a wall in the headquarters. Usually, unless you were a good hitter, or perhaps a close friend of the boss, you would have to achieve all of the above and then $5m in donations.

So yes, rank today is quite meaningless but I cannot say it is the total fault of any one person now. I seldomly come to the streets as I am not the speaker I think that is good enough to make meaningful contribution to these speeches, but occasionally I see something I do like that I may have an opinion on. 

Thank you for the speech and truthfully, I would love to see others come out regarding it.

Rank is only as meaningless as you make it. Every crew is different, hence why the perspective of ranks within a crew varies across them all. One crew might have strict requirements to earn ranks or promotions, while other crews might only require the minimum to ascend the ranks. 

Regardless, I’m not quite sure they’re meaningless anyway, especially when it regards anyone made. Consistently, whenever someone made retires or bites a bullet, at least from when I’ve seen, it still drives up a decent conversation on Lounge Street, compared to some goomba who typically didn’t amount to anything at the time. 

The hope is that the majority of crew leaders have a public face here in the streets, which generally seems to be the case. Definitely more consistent than what is typical. There’s still some quiet faces, but that’s somewhat unavoidable I think in the grand scheme of things. Everyone runs a different organization. 

Having wise guys and those underneath being the minority definitely is an anomaly, but perhaps that’s a sign that more people than usual are actually getting such an honor. Could say that because of this made man feels cluttered, since now everyone has a chance to actually earn it. It goes back to my main point though, it all depends on what the individual does to determine any rank’s value. There’s Wise Guys who are equivalent to Dons, and there’s probably Bosses who are probably as valuable as a Gangster fresh off the boat. That’s up to be determined though. 

My personal opinion still lies among that rank is still decently important nowadays. Not everyone can have the perfect crew leader where they truly make you feel like earning ranks is worthwhile. I’m on the side of putting in the work yourself and being rewarded when the time comes, and ranks help a lot more in the interaction side of the streets. 

It’s not like ranks fade away with time either. Perhaps someone put in the effort to truly be considered a Don at a point, before things in their lives changed and now they’ve somewhat stepped back from that spot. Doesn’t take away their rank though. They had the ability to earn it then, so we can assume they still possess the ability to keep it now. 

We have become a community of leaders and very few followers; everyone is a Godfather or Don, Consigliere or Boss, and the Goomba's, Earners and Wise Guys of our streets continue to dwindle in number

Do you hear that Drieza? Stop holding me back