We have at presents four cities, each with a number of districts.  Each district operates much like a city of olden times, multiple crews, headed by a Godfather. 

There have been intra city conflicts, but it is to be expected that, generally, the city could well be the sum of the districts in times of war.

This leads me to my discussion point.  Let us imagine that each city is headed by a first amongst equals, a Tutti de Capo Tutti, who by hook or by crook leads the way, best gun, most members, best protected.

So, four cities, four Tuttis...  Each wanting to protect his or her interests.

Travelling from place to place isn't as easy as it once was...

Is it beyond the realms of possibility that a city bans all travellers from other cities visiting?

It is the opinion of this narrator that it's not only a possibility, it is, given a passage of time, a probability - the logical conclusion of power dynamics.

Far fetched, I hear you say?  Well, there have been city taxes.  Hell, many moons ago, people got shot for being in a city with very cheap cocaine (Who-Err?).  And then, not so long ago, we had the infamous "list".

Powerful leaders demand compliance and think up new ways to consolidate their powerbase.

So, friends, I ask two questions:

Is it beyond the realms of possibility that a city bans all travellers from other cities visiting?

And what happens then?

It's not beyond possibility.

It's also not healthy.

I doubt I need to explain further but if you are still confused, let me put it this way. The very old Detroit IA tax once held sway over many a crew and many a city. Then, one day, someone grew strong enough to "modify" the situation and the IA tax was no more. You can always have your fun and implement a city wide ruling or "Expectation".

Just beware doing so and not having the strength to enforce it, as you could be tested. Being tested is not healthy.

The IA tax was like the death tax.  They are fair enough, really.

But, four powerful city bosses could usher in an era of stagnation...

I feel a commission is the answer.

Sabrina is walking down the street and over hears Mr. Kuku speaking. She stops a moment to offer her opinion.

well i have to things i need to say on this. well 1 thing and a question.

1) exactly what is a Tuttis?

and now i will move on to what i need to say. Having a lot of alliances isnt healthy in my opinion because the person who is your friend today can turn on you the next.  But if you have the gun to back it up and the defense to boot, then why not? Bare in mind i have only ever seen two people pull that off, Premeir and Roman and that is an era i wouldnt wish upon anyone. once you got on either shit list you never got off. Im not saying that there hasnt been more, i have only returned 3 days ago and a lot can happen here inside of 2 years of being gone, but i doubt that anyone can touch how tyrannical Premeir and Roman were and it took a long time to end that reign of tyranny. If you can pull off something like what you speak of and be successful, more power to you.

Sabrina lights a cigarette before leaving on her way to the plane that would bring her home to Brooklyn she see's a business opportunity and stops to check it out.

Tutti de Capo Tutti - Boss of Bosses.  the man (or woman) who calls the shots, basically.

Here's the thing though, yes, Roman and Prem were tyrannical - but what if four of them were in cahoot with each other?  And what if, to protect their interests, they made it so that nobody could travel outwith their city?

The end of free trade, free speech, freedom of movement.

It's not outwith the realms of possibility.  Hell, I'm surprised Roman and Prem didn't do it...

Mr_Kuku for once you have caught my interest. The idea of banning members from traveling is a very very interesting idea. The only issue would be that you have to have a damn strong city to ban other cities from traveling to. This might just even cause a massive war but then the other parties would just be filled by the opposing sides made and above. Thus it would almost instantly break the ban of people traveling to other cities. 

Light up his cig and inhales alot in. Exhaling it he thinks some more. 

It would revolutionalise this thing...  And not in a good way.  But wouldn't it make wars exciting?  An entire family en masse attacking another by invading their city/district.

It would need a powerhouse structure to enforce, but it could well be enforced.

In fact, perhaps Stonewall can confirm something...

A relative of yours shot a Godfather for being in your city, you (correctly) assumed that JimmyNapoli wasn't on a friendly visit?

This scenario happened long ago on two separate occasions - Camilla's "hotel tax" for incoming visitors of her city, and the Godfather JimmyTheLionHeart levying a tax for entrances to New Orleans and Philadelphia.  

For a variety of different reasons, these kinds of experiments don't work because of the manpower needed to enforce that kind of rule - not even mentioning the fact that we've gotten more localized and we're now doing things on a district-by-district basis. 

I can't help but feel that in both instances of imposing the tax that it significantly reduced their respective lifespans - it inflamed a lot of people at the time because of the high cost, and it surely damaged the passive income of those respective leaders during enforcement.  If we're talking about an outright ban without a tax, it would make things far too easy in terms of war-waging, and our society isn't exactly in the habit of making things easy for our enemies.

In short - from past experience, the concept is barely feasible as it is, let alone able to be implemented!

Oh my god I had forgot that I saw that in my family journals. I remember they say we couldn't travel to said city due to a tax. I can't believe that I forgot that. 

Solastalgia is right. Is this scenario possible? Yes. Is it likely? Not at all. Aside from the lost revenue by keeping people out of your city you create a "Catch 22" in terms of enforcement. To make a rule like barring outsiders from your city you would, as a Godfather, put yourself in a position where it has to be enforced or you look weak. The problem with that is you will always have stragglers that spend the majority of their lives sleeping and who don't keep up on current affairs very well hanging around your city and what do you do then? If you leave them alone you fail to enforce your rule and look weak. If you shoot them you're not going to be very popular with their crew or their district. All that for what gain?

noob walks up to say his piece and lights a cigarette

while this scenario is indeed an interesting one i cant help but state tactically it would be a horrible move as previously stated not only would it piss a lot of people off but it would endanger a lot of lives on both ends due to obvious reasons. With that being said it would also push away much needed allies and drain much needed funds. as our late president once said "speak softly but carry a big stick" i am quite skeptical that any city would carry a big enough stick to enforce such a thing. so in closing Mr.kuku is such a ban possible yes i think so could they enforce it? i dont think so nor would it it be worth the trouble.

To go back further still than Solastalgia, many many years ago Don Evsie slipped into a coma in his home city of Chicago; his compadre 94Octane believed that it was only those who were above Capo who would have had the influence and respect to organise a hit on Evsie. What did 94Octane do? He sent out a decree that nobody above the rank of Capo would be allowed in Chicago; let alone anywhere near the hospital. Evsie recovered without anyone taking advantage of his condition and both he and 94Octane lived a long and happy life before succumbing to old age!

This is the last (and only?) time in which I can recall the dominant faction banning entrance into a city and the ban not being a significant contributing factor to their death.

To return to the present, it's an option that is somewhat appealing to me; if only in the case of specific people rather than wholesale banning orders. Quite a few of the folks who've dealt with me as both a RHM and a Godfather will tell you I don't really subscribe to the outdated and draconian idea that any transgression should result in death or demotion and there's no wiggle room. Don't get me wrong if you wrong one of my district's Made guys I will naturally come after you with everything I've got, but generally speaking there are a multitude of sins for which a banning order would be a measured response.

Ultimately though, with inter-district travel the work one would have to put in to police a banning order would far outweigh the advantages of having it in the first place; and the fact that it would be so easy for people to slip through the nets means any Godfather or District Head issuing a banning order would just be undermining their own position unless they knew they had the ability to carry it out with ruthless efficiency.

Cantona, if someone came to the Streets and started singing a song that contained the lyrics "ooh, ah *******, he looks like a woman and he wears a bra" what measures would you take?

And excellent bit of history there.

Indulge me...

From a leader's point of view, and bearing in the mind that longevity is good business.

Could it work?

Solastalgia, 

From reading my great great great grand papies Journals, the taxes he imposed where upon mademen and above. This in no way significantly reduces his lifespan. What it did do was reduce the profit he made but at the same time protected his family. As far as the journal states. Cities back then worked close to each other on the different taxes every family had levied.

As for the lifespan he had it was reduced as he decided to protect the remainder of his family due to a take down on one of his captains at the time without a prior okay from him. Detroit decided they would remove a part of his city without his nod and for that he went to war.

I am refering to my bloodline jimmythelionheart that is.

The scenario we are discussing is when more than one despotic leader is around at the same time.  4 people could lockdown this society.

No?

I was under the impression that banning people from entering cities is now an act punishable by the gods? Is this true of am i mistaken

I don't see why the fact of banishing someone from your city would be an offense that the gods would intervene on. Surely along with the power bestowed to the head of the city, comes the choice to make his rules and such. There are numerous cities they can continue to visit should they be banned. Now if they where being banned from all cities except the're home cities then I would understand. Yet again that should be left upto the persons leader to find out why and try to rectify the situation.

And I believe 4 people could lock down an entire community if they put the effort and collective minds to it.