tony steps forward into the middle of the street, his trusty crate in tow. This time not for fun loving unlicensed diagnosing of peoples problems but for once a serious look wore heavy upon his face.

​ Brothers, Sisters, Zalitz the oddly shaped cat..

How far is too far? How much is too much? Its funny that I am left to ponder this as are many others on a continuous basis. Our lives it seems to be at a stand still, little movement, few turnover due to anything other than a recent God defying suicide. Some call it a great time of peace, for prosperity. Yet those with the opportunity to prosper sit back and remain content and unmotivated to move themselves forwards. After all what purpose do they have? For that matter I'm sure many of us have asked the same of ourselves.

What purpose do we currently serve? It is indeed a joyous occasion in knowing one has the security in knowing they're protected, to be able to go about their business without paranoia of ensuing death. But to what cost has our fat and happy selves made without realisation? Our number of up and coming young mafioso has hit a slow decrease. Families are so plentiful and in most scenarios large throughout a district, whether its spread out through several families or not. When new up and coming young mafioso and mafiosa find their ways to these sures it seems they are quickly turned off and become missing. Yet their names still etched on an members list inside of an HQ provides them a number so that a leader may say my family is this large. Are we directionless mafioso to blame for pushing new arrivals, like we once were, into running away into.nothingness? It almost seems to unfortunately be so.

Can you remember the last time you felt moved to push forward to try and achieve something? Has being a victim of the time of peace gotten far passed complacent into noncaring? We fail to see that our actions, rather lack there of can be unbecoming to a new up and comer looking for the life, the excitement, the money, the power that is our world. When they find they are but hamsters churning away on a wheel who are we to blame them?

You may say "tony everyone has the opportunity to work and progress."

How naive are you? I am anything but. The worst curse we could ever have fallen to is bloodlines coming before work, an ability to shoot with keen marksmanship over leadership, and to top it off our we have high ranking members of our society not showing genuine caring or haste in moving forward. Our families have lost touch and what it means to be la familgia. We've lost ourselves amongst being comfortable and feeling no need to put forth an effort and run this world as true Cosa Nostra.

I don't put the blame souly upon our shoulders. I look up to the heavens, to the God that burnt bridges between other cities in natural disasters and made it to where we can not even touch down via airplane in some once proud cities. You can say all you want that spacing out families amongst many cities and having the opportunity at competition isn't good for our world but where there's competitiveness and desire that breeds growth and strength which we don't see now. We have over crowding and inactiveness from many of our mafia breathern.  

Why should they put forth the effort? There's no foreseeable achievement for them to aspire for and that is equally in our Gods hands as much in our leaders hands. My great great great so forth grandfather once spoke of a time when Godfather was an great achievement. Something that like retirement in a working community that when reached and you could do no more you stepped aside and allowed business to flourish under your hard working capo regime leaders, not held onto business for lack of progress and only for themselves. There comes a time to say its time for another to step forward and take the lead and move this city, this district, this world forward.

If you can't allow that then you become a dictator and many of us now Italian-American immigrants came to this fair country to escape such ways. Take all these rants both separately and combined for what you will. There's a reason our world has so many issues and bloodlines dwindling away with no new blood to take its place. Look on the mirror. Its on all of us.

tony steps down from his trusty crate before throwing his suit-coat down to the ground and rolling up his shirt sleeves and going back to work

Can you remember the last time you felt moved to push forward to try and achieve something? Has being a victim of the time of peace gotten far passed complacent into noncaring? We fail to see that our actions, rather lack there of can be unbecoming to a new up and comer looking for the life, the excitement, the money, the power that is our world. When they find they are but hamsters churning away on a wheel who are we to blame them?

It takes a lot out of a person to make a big move. A lot of time, a lot of energy, and a lot of sacrifice and risk. All of this is well and good if you have the desire to take power in This Thing of Ours. What is odd to me is when people who have had these lofty goals and then go as far as to accomplish them, for the most part sit back idly and do nothing. There's no game-changers anymore. Nobody in recent times that one could pinpoint as really making an impact in this world.

What's equally odd, albeit sad, is when a Godfather passes in a mega-war, we hear eulogies in their funerals such as "Great run", or maybe even more inappropriately, "Legend". Really? What was so great about it? What was so memorable? Has the status-title of "legend" been that watered down and cheapened that we throw it around that loosely? In the meantime though, one can continue to go through the motions of the daily grind. If you've got the desire and will-power to achieve prominense and have a vision of how you think this world should operate, put yourself in a position to be that person or align yourself with others that can. It's possible, and it's been proven historically time and time again. And explain to the new-comers to these shores that feel like hamsters-in-a-wheel what this life of crime is really about, not the candy-coated crap everyone regurgitates publically. It's about power. Not only power but how one yields it and what they do with it once they get it.

I agree with s lot of the things you've added sir. I will have it noted I respect anyone who has lived through wars and continued on to achieve great things. However I will have it noted that there's a time for all great things to end and for a new day to dawn and new business be allowed to flourish. Its an amazing achievement to achieve the times of power some of our current Godfathers hhave in fact achieved. But allow that to be your legacy, allow that to be what you leave behind not the fact you rode it out until someone felt the need to say I will sacrifice this life I've worked hard to establish so perhaps my son or daughter or their sons or daughters may need a change. You've accomplished it, you've done amazing things, now share the spot light. 

But alas I will also say this that I do believe the times are a bit tarnished due to the catastrophes that have befallen the other once grand cities that due to things beyond our control business has halted there. This isn't the same world our forefathers had the opportunities to advance in.

I would like to see the new blood able to come to this land and flourish and thrive and see others doing the same and want what they have opposed to seeing others give up and take their lead instead of the great things that some others may have the ability to show them but now are beat down and letting opportunities to grow and change those whom come here who have potential fall through the cracks and miss the opportunity to add to this land more than a number than an plus one.

Dear Squishy, I always respect your input as a God among men. However I see your vision as one that some take advantage of. Wherr you see opportunity and more areas others see a way to bunker down an whole city. Where you see the opportunity to approach leaders for a change I see a bond between men who by albeit have the righr to bond. However if one looks closely enough it looks more like strategic placement than giving the due their justs. 

By all means as city heads they have their rights. However I stand by with new opportunities come new growth. Let those who want to crowd their cities and do as they please but to others whom are far behind where they should be due to lack of movement and motivation to move themselves along does it look as if the state of this world is better than in the past as someone whom is all seeing? 

Is there not less fresh blood, more MIA mafioso who are nothing more than a number or an statistic? Are we not cursed to fight zombies now due to the lack of turn over and ability to create said turn over? 

You can't "rank up and do something about it" when there are pole sitters who've had the opportunity to stake themselves to the ground and build an empire and I feel that is something that is fair to say aside from the problems we mafioso here in this land have created for ourselves. I think many of us will accept blame and nod our heads at our fault.  We see where we've been wrong and allowed things to escalate to change our culture for a more prosperous yet slower growing world that turns many away, but do you not see where perhaps allowing a larger empire without competing cities of rival attractiveness and size and they're own booming culture has inhibited we mafioso here?

When a new blood comes to this land from across the pond do they not see Chicago and New York as their greatest options for criminal life? And with Chicago building an empire and New York being above average how can their be more disparity among cities? Less crowding in one city with more options leads to more disparity more greed and less of an empire like build who by the time someone does "rank up to do something about it" they have no chance at doing anything more than eating a bullet.

Once more, I will always respect your input and thank you for addressing this in your humanly form. However I do think where you see an opportunity other see a chance at prolonging theirselves as a chance to build an empire and stamp their faces into history purely based upon the fact the cards are in their favor both in longevity and the spoils that comes and shear size.

We shall agree to disagree oh God of Mafia Gods. I understand your point of view on things, I can see what you envisioned, however I see what's been done with it and how quickly disinterested those new bloods become due to being needed more as an number and less as a member of a family. Once they're there are they being properly taken under ones wing and developed or alas is it become more of a you've met our need by giving us an number now go learn this life and since you're not of blood descent to another we shal ononly address you if you have a question and come to us and will not assure you stay inspired and bought in.

I know there was an attempt at a family purely for molding young mafioso, and while there were a few successes, I saw a lot of failures. That family itself saw many young talented folks go MIA and others when walking into new families new not much more than how to up their units. I could gather about the same from anyone else fresh off the streets. What really was done for these folks? It seems as if not much more than getting them a family and letting them go was there upbringing. I hope I am wrong however based on appearance of these folks when coming into families it almost seems to be so.

We should not need this in our world, our families should not view new life as but an number bit instead the way they were once viewed with being new blood to bring up and teach the ways of this life so that they grow as strengthened allies and pupils to grow our family in more than numbers.

I know  Its on us, I don't blame thr Gods for this, I take full responsibility as a member of this community for not doing my jest due as an experienced mafioso. Alas I have reached out to new up and comers in my family, I have helped them with problems and questions and concerns along their ways and I won't set and defend my actions nor should anyone but as an whole we should all look at ourselves and understand we've allowed certain aspects get passed us to expanding our world and growing our new young and have all failed at doing an good enough job that the Gods have intervened. This shouldnt have to happen, this is a first.

Much like the zombies who come to only be turned back if we as a people, our leaders,  all of us allowed for change and took proactive measures for a change and put our world in the direction it should go and stepped outside our comfort zones and allowed new dawns to rise perhaps we as a collective group could once again see greener pastures and what could be and not have to dwell so much on what is what it is. 

Once again I put all of us from our mafia God to myself to blame, don't think I'm pointing the finger square, I see what's being done and I see how we've all made mistakes and how we all are to fault. I just wish others would admit we've allowed ourselves to go into a direction that has been sad for our world to go.

I think the problem here is that we as people have the tendency to take things literally. People hear the phrase 'shake things up' or 'change things around' or some variant thereof and instantly equate this to 'making a move' and some daring, audacious grab for the top. This isn't necessarily so. As Squishy has mentioned, the first step in changing anything should naturally be either a public speech (as you have done) or a conversation with your own upper structure.

The logic seems obvious to me here; if you are not a made man then you frankly haven't earnt the right to have a direct discussion with the boss in terms of the direction your family is moving in. If you are a button man and you have genuine concerns, ideas and strategies you'd like to discuss with your upper structure - they should listen.  If they don't, I would contend that your most pressing concern with your Leader is that their hierarchy is broken and they don't place enough stock in the importance of rank. The most elaborate watch in the world will fail to work if one cog is not moving in sequence with the others. That should never be forgotten.

It's easy for me to sit here as the Right Hand Man of an empty HQ and put forth empty platitudes - for that's all they are until myself and Toberius can back up our words with actions - but as I mentioned right off the bat, doing things differently does not have to be some grand gesture. As a brief example, Godfather Solastalgia's taxation system for the North Side is the right balance and combination of workable, elegant and entrepreneurial. It's not world changing, it's not ground breaking - but it is unique and it is his. When we are all dust, I would wager a few handed down family journals will rely to our ancestors people's fine memories of North Side simply because it was something a little different. Often, that is enough. You can't change the world from the top up.

Alliteration aside; a note on 'dictators' and district differentiation. First, the former. Whilst a Leader must be willing to take on ideas and feedback from his underlings, he ultimately steers the family in a direction he feels is best. The legacy is his and he will take credit for his good decisions as much as responsibility for his bad ones. That said, he should not feel the need to apologise for justify his actions to his family because ultimately he is not accountable to his underlings, but to his peers; the other leaders.

This has always been the way. If a Leader fucks up, he is held accountable by the other Leaders - in a world where there are no limits on expansion, Leaders being punished for their mistakes by a loose, unofficial 'Commission' like board is one of few reasons for war.

This brings me to the second alliterative note - districts. Personally, I feel that City Hall's decision to officially refer to cities at district level before certain other steps were ready to be taken was a premature decision and has not helped the confusion surrounding matters, but my thoughts on this have been made clear elsewhere. What I want to remark on today is that, since the inception of districts and growing to a calamitous conclusion upon the passing of temporary laws banning MIA's etc, there is the rather laughable assumption that districts somehow exist as microcosms in a vacuum that don't interact with any other districts.

"We're not the same organisation!"

"That district is nothing to do with us!"

"That's not our problem!"

These are the plaintive cries I've heard from people in positions of considerable power in the last few days, and each time I hear them I wince with distate. When my darling children, Jacques and Pierre, are in trouble - they try to blame each other. 'It was not my fault papa, he did it. I was in the other room' they whine. I do not care, they both are punished because they are peers and I am teaching them to be responsible adults who will police each other's actions. This is a fundamental concept that all organisations, and even civilisations, are built upon.

A leader is answerable to his peers; and just as equally, a Leader is answerable for his peers. If you do not hold this to be true, then I must follow your logic through to its inevitable conclusion and that is that we will never have reason for a wide-ranging or full-scale war ever again. Fantastic news!

I take some things you say as valid points Cantona. I don't think as a city there is a straight lined chain of command, as an District, sure. However no one wants to step on anyones toes, everyone wants to play nice while still remaining seperate and not taking any responsibility for anything more than they see as theirs.

Its become about the district's and I understand that. However, we have how many Godfathers? Should there not be one Godfather controlling an city with a clear cut kine of command trickling down throughout his city with everyone giving him his just dues? Is that not how this thing of ours works? One man comes to power in an city the others have their own business in sections but ultimately one man is king of the city? 

Instead we have multiple Godfathers, no clear cut direction or purpose and no one wanting to take power because there's no clear cut separation of power that can be found.

I hope this expands on some of the thoughts you had Cantona.

I honestly look at things sometimes and wonder whats wrong with society.  I regularly plan organised crimes and even after inviting maybe 15 active., semi active at time in multiple phases i notice it can be hard to fill a high level oc.  Recently have settled for hitting art galleries rather then anything else, just for the speed and being able to find people in or outside my city and have noticed others operating similar policies.

I also sit watching crews with ia's still on their book even though they have not logged on as far back as April in one recent case, but i believe that is a crewleader's choice  when not so long ago would of been target practice within a week or two.

I think there are a mix of problems, some architecturally in the limits in what we can do, that after a while people get bored, second, we have old grudges returning where even older trusted members of our society do stupid things because they are not going anywhere.  We also have several half empty or mostly empty crews and when someone is put in place as a friend. is frustrating for many and make them wonder what their worth is as has repeatedly come up via mail, irc and other discussions.

People feel the only way often to change the world is to shoot out of frustration, but each set of leaders adapt similar methods especially post big wars to try and have experience instead of new blood rebuild unless a lucky survivor with an adequate rank in many cases.  Also for those who hate the long term peace, remember the bigger the peace the bigger the devastation post war, and the picking off of people after the war once the dust settles.

I believe for many the problem is the case of rebuilding is a hard one, as many members feel simply like cash cows, building for districts or cities who do not simply represent always what they want now, when needing safety at the point of joining.  Jake was the third leader i joined after my previous leaders died and although we had some knowledge of each other before joining but I was still willing to sit vulnerable before joining as we converse with me unsponsored in the middle of a war to be in the right crew.

The problem for many is post war and pre-war we get a hype that everythings going to change, the world will be more exciting and we will have the opportunity to surpass our previous expectations, but depending on what motivates you, this is often an empty and hollow promise which no end of wars will honestly solve.

 Different people come with different motivations and different levels of need.  Some come for the social aspect of the family, others the rp, others to prove their gun is bigger then someone elses or like me they enjoy dipping their hands in others pockets for the fun of it while shielding their own by natural and enhanced defence skills.  The truth is with new members some have to be walked through where others hit the ground running with a million questions and have to have the right structure in place to deal and analyse the members to see who needs what, and who can be or wants to be developed in different ways to keep their attention spans and thats a challenge.  You also have different levels of involvement in our society, where member one may hardcore crime all day, where another keeps a low profile for 1 hour a day.  The problem being from here, how do they evolve to meet what they want to achieve, e.g the member on 1 hour a day may want to be a leader, but will have difficulty growing or watching and developing the crew on limited time.

We also have to analyse the peoples skills to see if they are capable first of positions within their family and how we can develop them if they do not yet.  Next we should make those who want to achieve learn all the roles and uses and why they are there in a family so they can understand if they take the reigns with time.  The truth being if this opportunity doesn't and will not exist for the forseeable future, you will lose people to the boredom of being a cash cow.

How do i figure in the motivational aspect of things? well i put things up to my leader for competitions, i like my face on the street, and i like my hands in pockets and thats the limt of my time for now as i grow a rank as i remember a time when only dons and consiglieres ever set up crew even in some cases if they were friends.  

Do i want my own family in time? yes

Do i know it takes time to get everything ready to run a family how i want? of course

Do i think it i or society is ready yet? no.  I believe with such a struggle for members and without the right structure in place i wouldn't want to set up.

What do i do without my own and other families in my district, talk offer help as i believe you build a reputation within a district, and if you can help others, build connections it can pay off in time as my family line helped me end where i am, even if it was not the only reason i gained entry to my family.

As for spacing of cities and protection levels, although i can understand why it is there i do not like it.  Society seemed more free flowing especially in war time because of it, and it meant even a rogue could have more freedom to escape a bullet.  Between fortifications, bodyguards and flights has slightly slowed the chance of changing much yet we still see people get bored within families and sometimes remove bg'd individuals of their own family or ones in the same city sometimes.  The truth is violent change has to be done as a group and for the maybe 100 who take part, they know at start only 2-3 may get a crew out of it, if they survive.

As for godfathers, districts and cities. I will always look to my boss and Godfather as my boss but i would look at Cpt-Harris more as a CDTC.  I do not know how others feel in their own city, but i know in the past how some looked at Detroit causing her fall.
For a sponsor or leader i would say mix with your crew, help your crew, build it, advise it and bond them together as when war comes then you will see the true strength of a crew and how good a job you did.  30 IA'S  in a 40 man crew won't quite pull the same off as even hitmen need pro'ers.

For those climbing the ladder, show initiative, ask if more you can be doing, look to learn the jobs above you if possible as people notice those trying to stand out, whether a gun, a rp'er, a pp'er or just a great earner even if not always rewarded; just be careful and don't become too useful or will never escape a crew as can be over relied upon unfortunately.

I think that plagues many with todays log jam to be honest and helps lead to some of the families that have as many inactive if not more than active is that you're obviously authing someone you trust and who you feel is worthy but it's more strategic than opportunistic it may seem.

Great idea men, men and women with leadership potential are held onto now more than ever. They want them there within their Godfather headquarters. Many of them, one in Chicago's West Side in fact who currently serves as an RHM is a brilliant mafioso who posesses both brain and braun, but he is important in his role while allowing an great hitter who is surrounded by smart business clever folks to set up seems to be the more popular option. Once again strategic. But to what great war ordoomsday are they preparing for? We need more people with street presence and iintelligence in thinking repping districts and cities. Having a great gun should be a bonus not a qualification. 

We're in the Mafia, we are men and women of business. Sure the business we're in is criminal but one would be naive in thinking all business doesn't posess such characteristics. So to the one response I have for you BackToShootPeeps its this, you're right, a great idea man, a forward thinker, an great earner has lost their calling in this world. To repeat myself from my original message what reasons do they have to maintain themselves if they're lookef at as an waste? With little turn over, no stepping aside once the all time role has been achieved what do those whom should receive more work for if there's nothing to obtain in their sight?

After all coming into this thing of ours we don't all aspire to always be the guy driving the car I'd like to think there's those of us who aspire to be the ones being driven.

I think sometimes, you have to build and bide your time, look for those like minded, heighten bgs, raise the gun ready as with creep in detroit or orythia sometimes unexpected opportunities present themselves, alternatively can simply call it a day  but now on retirement every city will be similar and for the forseeable future similar so enjoy a long break away, but know even when you come back is no guarantee you will achieve what you want or anything to have really have changed.