Ladies and Gentlemen, I am TheKing, Scholar of Mysterious Things. I come here to these fine streets to impart some knowledge to these streets and to start a debate which will at the minimum bring entertainment to you all and hopefully make you walk away thinking. My subject for today will be Crime, I will begin by speaking about why we bring ourselves to these streets and why we wish to enter this world and what drives us to go beyond the normal life and strive for greatness.

I believe that we all enter these streets looking for a quick buck in these troublesome times, the economy has come crashing down on us, banks fail everyday and individuals loose their lifesavings with them. You go to your job one day and the next day you no longer have it. The next thing you know your hoping you get a job working on the Roosevelt gangs and when that doesn't happen you start wondering where the next loaf of bread will come from. Then one day you run into a old friend from school or see a guy from the old neighborhood. The next thing you know you end up working small rakets or smashing up a few storefronts so the rest of the owners understand what happens when you don't pay up. This is the day you became a associate.

There are many reasons why we all choose this life, some are mentioned above and sometimes we where born into the life and other times we just choose it. The reasons we enter rarely end up mattering in the long run and the reason for this is simple. After that first rush and that first payout, you want more and more and more. You can't believe how much money you are making by doing a few things that don't really hurt anyone in the first place, or at least that's what you say to yourself to keep going. Then you end up with all that money, or even just loving the rush of the whole experience and you don't want to stop. You made more in the last month than you made in the last four combined. The lifestlye you live now is completely different than the one you lived before you joined and you don't wish to change it. You have also gotten your first taste of the sweet perfume that they call power.

You started as a associate of one of the great Familes and have since moved up, your lilfestlye keeps getting better and you know that if you stay the course and show them what you are made of you can go even higher. So you push for the harder jobs and the bigger the role you play the more you want to play an even bigger role. You know inside your heart that if you are given that one chance to shine you will be Made and can then enter the Family and finally belong somewhere with people who are at least your equal. At this point you have made it as far as any normal person could ever hope to make it, but something inside you yearns for even more. One might ask what more could a normal man ask for? And your answer to that would be the world.

This is where that drive to succeed at any cost and your will comes into play. For some just making the ranks of Made and offically joining a Family would be enough. However, for you that is just the begining. You know in your heart that you have what it takes to one day be among the greats and that one day you will be making decisions and possibly even going so far as to lead your very own Family to success.

So ends Part 1 of Phislophy of Crime... more to come.

Well said mate. But I'm a tad confused.

Remembers what The King said.

Now, are you starting some kind of crime school? Or are you just telling us what your heart desires?

I crave the bigger and the badder. The rush takes me to get there. I relish my chance to shine. I know with hard work and determination the sky is the limit.

I wish to do all of those at once my friend, it is my intention to impart knowledge where I can. I also wish to become at the same time the student as well as the teacher and when two or more people debate all come away with some new knowledge.

I know exactly what you mean Kat, my line has always lived with the desire to push the boundaries and see what can be achieved. This has not always worked to our advantage but it does drive us to the very limit of our abilites. Only by testing your limits can you ever hope to achieve your dreams.

I really like this quote. It helps keep me grounded when I am furthering my ambitions.

You can have power over people as long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power.    -Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn-