Rusty had been frequenting the street as he usually did and as of late he was noticing a trend and it was time to speak on his findings.

Before I begin, this is in no way a slight, just more of an observation.

After the recent outrage over The Mute Society over in L.A. I noticed that it wasn't the only mute society around this thing of ours. When you come out to the street it is abundantly clear that one city is way ahead when it comes to stamping their mark out here.

So what of the other two (completely disregarding L.A.)? Aside from our resident activist KevinOwens, not a lot has been said from either New York or Las Vegas. In a place that is built on words, aside from our guns it is literally all we have, so I find it disheartening to see that only Chicago seem to be making the real effort out here in the street. As much as I rib him, I really must applaud KevinOwens in his endeavours to bring some life to our streets but it seems his ideas have only fallen on the ears of those from Chicago. This somewhat surprised me, especially since Kevin himself is from the Big Apple (this week, at least). I'd have expected much more input from those around him, alas it isn't to be.

And what of those from Las Vegas? Although still small in size in comparison to the other two major powers and yet to really stamp their mark on this world, we hear very little coming out of there, even in response to those already talking. It seems as if the streets just aren't a priority at all to them.

This isn't another street presence speech, well at least not your typical one, this isn't directed at the leaders but to everyone. This place isn't the same as what it was years ago and I'm fully aware that street speaking is not everyone's forte nor is it expected from our leaders any more, yet I find it very surprising that an entire population of 2 cities find themselves out here very little.

Good thing or bad thing? I'm not sure. As I stated it was just an observation of mine that these two cities aren't represented much out here and I feel that this may possibly be the beginning of the end for the street. It seems to be a regular few that come out here to tell a story or say something and the quality of what's being said just isn't the best, I find that more and more people find it more of a burden speaking out here than anything else.

Is it possible that in time the rest will see that there's little use for the streets these days and join this Mute Society?

Rusty sees a few people looking at him and wonders whether they will chime in. 

"Probably not", he thinks to himself.

Sir Rusty.

You are completely correct. Speaking isn't quite expected anymore, nor is it anyone's forte. 

For me though, I can speak well enough. I sometimes listen to these speeches and I have input, sometimes I don't, but usually when I'm considering talking myself, someone says something similar, or someone says something that completely disregards me and that makes me not want to waste my time if someone already has put out what I want.

As for mister LaPaglia, I would say people don't even spend a ton of time in coffee shops anymore either. I visited several noticeable ones yesterday and while people were there, it looked as if no one had talked in hours.

I think people are just tired and busy. Maybe I'll try to present some more input in these speeches, maybe not.

Thank you, Rusty.

Can we judge cities based on their street presence?  A good city/family/leader does not need entertain the masses with speeches or share a random opinion to be labeled decent.  Should the streets really be a priority?  I would hope that leaders make family their first priority.  And family members should always make it a priority to do what they can to help the family.  The streets are not always the top of the list.  There are some cities that are more mute as you say, but is it a big deal?  Leave it to those who enjoy it.

Yes, the streets have calmed down quite a bit over the years.  And it would be nice to see some quality speeches, things that we can get amusement from, topics that we can argue over.  Some people like to focus on public speaking, they enjoy coming to the streets.  But its not for everyone.  Maybe we should focus on helping our members come to the streets.  A lot of times its the fear of the streets or being unfamiliar with how to speak.  Not force people as I've seen in the past, but help them, encourage them.  Pushing for people to come to the streets leads to poorly written speeches and random nonsense.  I prefer quality over quantity. 

And what about the business districts?  Aren't those just as important as the streets?  I would want to help the local businesses first before I spend my time in the streets.  I would want my city full of prosperous businesses, people coming from all over to spend time there.  If people focus on building their city, making business thrive, can that take place of being in the streets?  I have noticed that many mafioso feel more comfortable chatting with those in their home town rather than meeting strangers in the streets.

I think it all comes down to priorities and willingness to come out here.  I would love to see more people on the streets, but I won't judge those who choose not to come here.

Ah this good old Street post again, well I guess its time to speak on it once again so here we go.

Alright so basically the whole argument here is that if you don't go to the Streets you are a mute, well that may be the dumbest thing I have ever heard as I can assure you I am very far from a mute, just because I do not come out to the Streets and ramble on about bullshit that has nothing to do with me or my district or this city does not make me a mute, I have said it once and I will say it again, I am not going to force myself to find things to say in the Streets just to appease everyone else, when I see a topic I feel like speaking on I will do so, when someone poses a question about something to me if I actually think its a justified question, I will answer it.

I have actively read through the Streets quite a bit recently and most of what I have read from people is senseless bullshit that has nothing to do with the subject or topic at hand and more so seems about getting brownie points for showing your face even though what they said was completely irrelevant.

I don't feel that I need to be in the Streets often to be known to the world, I am very vocal in general, if you don't know that I am pretty sure you could ask around, and just because we may not show you our speech ability in public very often, does not mean it is not there. We just prefer to keep it hidden until the time arrives where we need to show it to the public, and as far as I am concerned, that is not on a daily where the majority of what is brought up is the same thing that has been brought up generation after generation.

I don't need brownie points, I have a family and a district to run, if people want to degrade their overall view on me because I am not too active around the Streets go right ahead, it won't stop me from continuing doing what I am doing right now, and it sure as hell won't stop me from accomplishing what I set out to accomplish when I moved to New York.

I believe that people come out and talk on the streets when they feel like doing so, and have an interest or passion in the subject at hand. Should we ask more than that? I think not.

LaPaglia - I'm fairly sure that Chicago and NY share the same coffee shop, despite this, there isn't a great deal of conversation made there from what I have observed, so if your point is that the majority of the speaking is done there then I feel you would be wrong on that one.

Scarecrow - I hear what you say, you go to add your own 2 cents and someone beats you to it, that's perfectly fine. Most of what can be said in the streets has probably already been said before if I'm honest. It's always possible to back up the points already made in order to give an idea of how many support a particular side of a debate, but then again it's entirely upto you.

Hayley - I'm not judging people on their street presence, I'm judging what the lack of street presence means and wondering whether this community is turning into a Mute Society as I have labelled it. Of course family should come first, that goes without saying really and when I mention priorities I mean you can have more than one. Family and family business would come at the top of that list, after that I can't speak for people in what they feel is their priority, however as mentioned it seems clear that after family business, people don't feel the streets are a priority what-so-ever. As for businesses prospering, the last person to really promote the use of businesses was Credits when he had his family. He was giving cash to people who would start up businesses, since then and prior to it I've not really seen many people make an effort with the push for successful businesses. However that's a separate discussion, while the business districts are important I feel it's the streets which really show who's active and who isn't, it also shows us just how often people are willing to come and speak out, whereas business district activity would require a person to fly around to each city..

Eredin - No Eredin, the point is that 2 cities currently aren't bringing much to the table in terms of street speaking, despite the fact that a New Yorker is offering a very nice incentive for people to come out here, is it then a matter of time before it becomes completely silent out here? You seem to have missed my point entirely, I'm not saying you need to come to the street to be known, that ship sailed a long time ago and it's clear we no longer require leaders to come out and put some thought into street speaking, instead I'm saying 2 of the major cities are very quiet and is it possible that Chicago will become silent too? As I said before this isn't your typical street presence thread, this is not something that targets you, but an entire society of people who no longer feel the need to come out and speak. Your point on the current quality out here is correct, however I feel this can be attributed to the KevinOwens show and people wanting to earn some cash for coming out here.

As I have said, it's clear Chicago is doing a lot of work out in the street, I feel people like Sereno and his associates over in North Side and others from other districts have a lot to do with the Chicago speakers, since he is behind the scenes constantly promoting ways for people to come out and speak in their own way. For New York, there is KevinOwens and as mentioned in my original comments, I'm surprised there hasn't been more speakers from NY as Kevin is well behind the idea of people coming out here.

There are many people who simply do not street speak because when they did they just got ridiculed for it, I don't really know how far back your bloodline goes, so I am going to mention this anyways because I think it is relevant to what you are questioning so here it goes.

A few years back there were people actively learning how to role play, they started in the business districts and many Leaders were mailing out to their members about getting people to help role play to get the business district active again and to get the Streets popular again as there was very little activity actually a lot less than you see now.

Many people stepped forward and started learning from the likes of one people know as Silk who was willing to teach anyone and she did well at it, however when people transitioned to the Streets doing speeches and role plays many people abused them verbally through mails and on the Streets, so much so that I stopped reading them because it was a damn shame that people got trashed so badly for just simply trying to help out.

In my opinion being here since that time I have seen nothing but decrease in the activity on these Streets and much of it is due to how critical and abusive people can be, it scares people away and quite a few I have personally spoke to who were interested in role play don't want to do it because they don't want to deal with assholes who will just abuse them for not role playing correctly, or will tell them they should kill themselves and find a new place like quite a few did back in the day.

Do I wish the Streets were more active? Sure I do, but I am not going to sit here and tell everyone that they should try to role play when in reality when people did it they got nothing but abuse for doing so, for making 1 little mistake, and it was sickening to me so much so I never learned to role play correctly and I actually wanted to.

So there is my story for why I do not role play why I am not necessarily the most active around here nor do I ask that people role play or require it in any form as when I did I watched people who tried so hard to learn get humiliated for their efforts, maybe I am afraid it will happen again? Who knows either way, if my people want to role play they can do so and KevinOwens or anyone else who wants to help them learn can help as well, but I will not be forcing it out of people ever.

Rusty, I was not necessarily saying you were judging anyone, I hope you don't take it that way.  Just a difference in opinions, I don't feel that street presence and someone's activity goes together.  I do see your point, you are trying to do something good and get the streets going.  I will agree, it is more quiet than it used to be.  If it bothers people that much, then do something.  Work with people and get them out here.  There is definitely a lot less focus on getting people out and about, so maybe we need to look at that.  I have gotten more people to venture out into the streets just by giving a little encouragement.  But again, it all depends on priorities and if people feel its a worthy cause. 

And you will never see complete silence in the streets.  There are always opinionated people like me that are willing to come out here.  There may be times when its a bit silent, but it usually picks back up.  I think that some of the lack of street activity is again the fear of  getting reprimanded for being to bold, or getting made fun of for improper speaking skills.  Not to mention that is not easy to come up with a discussion that hasn't been beat to death in the past.  It does take a lot of creativity, courage, and decent speaking skills to come out in public. 

Eredin - I like to role play, mainly when the girls pretend to be a nun and I'm a priest, I won't go into too much detail though. Asides from that I'm not sure why there would be people role playing in the street but thank you for your entertaining story anyway. Not ridiculing by the way.

In terms of you telling everyone to speak, why would you? This discussion is not about you making people speak but rather people taking it upon themselves, or not in this instance, hence me speaking about it. Again you seem to be missing the point.

People would role play in the Streets to do things like heists and add more content that adds more people and gets more people involved over all, the Streets are not just about speaking, you can add more content and different things to it which is what people been trying to do over the years in different ways.

I get that you want people to do it voluntarily and that is fine but most people won't as most people want to ease into it and learn how to speak correctly and phrase things correctly, people like for someone to help them along the way, it gives them confidence that they can do it, so I don't really think this way of yours will generate too many results.

I think if you honestly want the Streets to be more active you should start something somewhere and encourage people to come to you and teach them the right way to do street speeches, or just speaking in general, and don't kick the idea of a good role play thread either as while your nun and priest thing is kind of scary, a good heist role play can spark interest in others to join in if it seems fun to them.

Sereno was one of the faces gawking at Rusty. They'd worked together for a short period under Credits and upon noticing Rusty out and about, Sereno made a note to check into what the man was presenting. He was with two associates who were squabbling over where they would be eating tonight.

The choice was between a fine Italian restaurant on the North Side of Chicago or one of their wives home cooking, who had extended an invitation to Sereno to sit down to a meal with them. Fat Joey wanted to hit up the restaurant and duck Phil's wife's cooking. He didn't want to be rude about it, at first, yet Phil's insistence was wearing on him.

Sereno waved at the two men and let them know to cut the chit chat, as he listened in. He waited till others present voiced their opinions then added his own.

"I really don't think we will ever become a Mute Society. The business we deal in and the community we thrive in has to do to a large extent with interacting with each other. For the most part it's behind closed doors, and as many of us know there's good reason for it. But other times we need to come together as a community and discuss things on a national scale regarding the society itself and to bring information to light."

"Sometimes I can't help but find myself amongst the gatherings and discussions even if it's just to keep an ear to what's being said and what news is circulating through the grape vine. It's a daily ritual for me, and the more I'm out here the more I find myself speaking up and joining in. Sometimes though, I'll just keep an ear."

"I do agree that one City is currently standing out on the Streets. Whether it's because the members of Chicago are just more interactive in this way, or whether it's down to the leadership of the city in general, I'm not sure. Does this impact my opinion of Las Vegas and New York in a negative way because they aren't out here as much? I don't even think about it. Then again, that means I hardly think about them too."

"I do also want to say this. I know that the more I see people out here, the more I get to know them. I may not have the chance to meet other members of our community by any other means than this avenue. We just don't work that closely enough. If I catch a glimpse of someone out here expressing their views and interacting, or catch wind out here of what someone was recently up to or because their name made the papers, then in my mind their reputation increases."

"I like to hear and read about what people are saying and doing. It adds to their reputation for me, otherwise I wouldn't know them from a bar of soap until their name is listed in the obits section of the newspaper. Even then I may still not know who they were or what they stood for and if they live beyond me I never will. I don't hold anything against anyone for not being recognized on the streets, yet they also might not make an impression on me otherwise. This is how Las Vegas currently is for me, an unknown city with not much of a reputation."

"The streets will always be active. Sometimes more, sometimes less. The quality of discussions out here and clarity of information about recent activities of individuals and families will waiver. I don't think it's alarming at all. It just shows that right now, on the streets, Chicago is the most recognized city in the nation. Good? Bad? It's relative to what you value. I value reputation."

"And what of those from Las Vegas? Although still small in size in comparison to the other two major powers and yet to really stamp their mark on this world, we hear very little coming out of there, even in response to those already talking. It seems as if the streets just aren't a priority at all to them."

You want me to come out here and argue with a bunch of politicians? I think some people might be in the wrong business. Its enough I gotta worry about cops and mayors, but apparently now people can call out cities on how they do things? How about you mind your own business and make some money for your family, that is the real purpose behind this thing of ours. Ive never gone out of my way to step on your toes, so tell me, why do you feel its your right to come out here and accuse my city of something that you hold dear, that's your game, might not be ours. 

He says, she says, im right, no your not, yes I am bullshit?

Please, a pointless argument, I have much better things to do with my time then to come out here an argue with what people think. I dont need anyone to talk to, I dont need to prove anything to anyone but my family and friends. And if the time arises, I prefer to do business one on one, like the old boys used to.

My apologies for taking so long to get around to speaking on this, I meant to earlier but I just couldn't seem to collect my thoughts (find time IRL).

Rusty you have a fair point, you're not addressing the leadership but you are addressing the cities as a whole which I'm sure is why some seem confused about who you've called into question. As such, I'm am more at fault compared to Eredin despite his position in NY if I am understanding correctly, because he has been seen out here more frequently than I have of late. Eredin's main point still stands when applied to non-role play aspects as well as non-grammar aspects. People get harassed all the time, no matter the kind of speech because some people don't understand how to speak to certain types of people and would rather be insulting, thoughtless morons or simply don't care to accept that others can find enjoyment or entertainment in a different line of thought. That careless line of insults and thinking encourages people to leave the streets and never return. If I were more active I'd likely be somewhat guilty of this because I'm not always as attentive to details or polite as I should be despite my best efforts.

How would this harassment come to a stop? I'd suggest holding everyone who does the sort of thing accountable... but that would mean a leader would have to punish their friend for being a douche to someone the leader doesn't like and that scenario alone means it'll literally never happen. Speakers could speak up for other speakers when they see this, but again most can't be bothered so you likely won't see it. Your only answers left are for speakers to develop thicker skin and pursue speaking despite the bordering on non-existent benefits gained from speaking publicly as demonstrated by the fact many of the current upper structure over the past few years have said little to nothing, or for someone to increase the benefits of speaking to a level where people find it worth pursuing. If you attempt either of those scenarios you could accidentally institutionalize street speaking as a part of getting ahead or developing which will make street speaking return... but in a bland, forced sort of way. It's a complicated problem that probably doesn't have an answer and has tons of ways to fail. I wish you the best in getting people to start speaking publicly again, but I fear you won't get much in the way of results because I personally believe there is no real answer to getting rid of the trolls or encouraging speakers to find speaking to be worth it on a larger scale.

As for the others who feel as if he was judging the leaders, are you expected to speak in the streets? Based on the originals ways... yes you are just as I am and it is sad that people think that it's pointless to speak in the streets, especially leaders. Leaders should be judged more than anyone else for it and will be by many because it is the truest way to communicate to as much of the community as possible at once. It's not the only merit and no one is saying anyone is undeserving of being a leader simply because they don't speak publicly very often, but it will be judged just like CLs who get the position despite being incapable of building a gun, recruiting members, making money or whatever their vices are will be judged for their downfalls along with their strong points as they should be. With leadership comes spotlight and responsibility, they're a package deal and you can't just force other people to not hold you to a higher standard in every aspect they deem important. If this comes across as insulting then I'd suggest a mirror because it's only insulting if you yourself think that you or someone you're thinking of defending don't have a sufficient street speaking presence until someone is specifically named for not having a sufficient street presence.

Obviously after giving such a long-winded old man'esque speech I'm tired and need a nap. Get off my lawn, you damned kids!

While listening to Wild Horses by the Rolling Stones, I engage in two hits of a joint I had sitting in my ashtray. I throw my feet up on the ottoman to only drift away in deep thought. The phone rings. The lyrics "Go away little girl" break my concentration. I answer the call and accepted the invitation to a game of cards. Even though my gut tells me we are in for a loss, I shrug it off with the fact in order for there to be a winner there has to be a loser.

I respect my drivers license. I  called for a taxi.

Fifteen minutes later my taxi arrives. WOGL was on the drivers radio playing "Grandma got run over by a reindeer"  I asked the driver, "Do I get a discount for this trip?"  He asked, "Why why would you get discount?" I answered," Because it is fucking September 6th and you are listening to a radio station that is playing a Christmas Carroll as we speak."  He did not get it. Nor did he get a tip.

After sorely losing our card game, (supporting my gut feeling) I head home. Once home,  I checked the local news and the heading, "The Mute Society" stands out like a sore thumb. I continue to read on. This is fucking orgasmic!!!! I reach for the joint in the ashtray and throw it back down. Fuck a joint. Nothing better then a natural high. I continue to read, my mind racing, all the awhile smiling.

My thoughts are going from senseless wars, senseless blood shed ,  grudges,  no regard nor respect,   hands across America,  no challenge, fear etc..

Spot on observation!  The lions are pacing.

PS: all the  auths would fall under the hands across America theme we are watching live on our local network

Which scared-insecure  ass took the s out of loopholes?