teal heels and astonishing bright red lipstick was the call for today....she flicked her cigarette stub ahead of her as she walked and took her time in using her shoe to extinguish it....and then clapped her hands loudly to draw passers by...

I had a dream...a dream in which I was lucky enough to have children...in this dream as they grew I showed them love and as part of that love to ensure they became the best adults they could be I set clear rules and boundaries, I saw my children relaxed because they understood them and knew that all was safe and well and happy if they played and ate and conducted themselves as expected and I continued to show them love. They flourished and held respect and knew what the consequences were for maybe a tantrum in public as an example. Really I created a controlled environment but they liked it - they got it - in many ways it prevented them from having the right to fuck up - they knew I set the rules and they wanted to show me that they would follow them.

looks around and sees several staring at her tummy for signs she is knocked up...and thinks she should of worn an even lower cut top to keep the eyes where she liked them most...

Anyway this got me to thinking. We have had several regimes in our near past here Boom - The Pillars most recently...and when these men fell - RIP - we saw demands for knowledge and to identify the new way of things. In a strange way people took comfort from a clearly defined regime - much like the children in my dream, you can defy a regime and get a name for yourself as a rebel or you can cuddle it as a comfort blanket too. We heard many in mild panic with the absence of an emerging new regime and I do feel the more levelled and open way this world is evolving in the absence of a strong and well documented regime leaves some unsettled.

Is not the way we choose to live our lives as criminals regime enough? Why do some have to have a need for a dictatorship for a cuddle blanket? Why is change so difficult to embrace?

My opinion for what it is worth is to use my dream as a scenario - this world is hugely different in terms of landscape in the absence of a 'regime' running the world and I feel we are in a period of transition, like a teenager with spots and too many hormones and not really quite sure how to direct all that energy. Transitioning brings uncertainty - why do we fear it? This is an uncertain world and often uncertainty will bring organically reassurance as people discuss, debate and metaphorically cuddle up and hold hands whilst the uncertainty waves rolls her way through..I am liking being a part of this 'new' world!

Why do we need a regime for a cuddle blanket?

People don't want regimes for a cuddle blanket. People want stability. Regimes and stability go hand in hand so it can appear that people desire regimes, but generally speaking they actually just enjoy the stability.

I would have to agree with the two men that spoke before me. I don't believe that describing it as the need for "cuddle blanket" is really the best way to look at things, at least not for the majority. Most people, of course not all, thrive off of stability and structure and when a tyrant is in control that structure is in place. It's clear who is making the decisions, who is leading the pack so to say. 

It also, as Don Slash stated, gives people a singular person to hate, to rage against, to plan against. If someone kills your family or friends, you know who it is that made that final decision. You have a singular person to be angry at rather then a whole city or some combination of crews across different cities. 

This may not be the first time our world has been governed in this way, but it is the first time in a long time and it will take some getting used too. For some change is difficult and they may need more time then others. 

Groups will look for leaders to follow. The many look at the few to lead them and trust in their abilities to keep them alive and making a living.
When the leaders are plenty, then elevation to the next tier would allow those leaders to in sense, follow the lead of the one they feel is the most capable. 

It takes the true Alpha to take that bull by the horns. 

Growth is what most want. Stability is the vehicle which most overtly offers it to us. The problem is that, frequently, stability turns into stagnancy when growth can only occur through violence. Cities should not stay empty for long. Moving crews or authing new ones into empty cities allow for a section of this world be at every stage of growth at all times. Some at the top, some in the middle, and some at the beginning.

When there's room, expand. When there isn't, recruit and grow. When you can't grow, make room to expand. That's the cycle this world should follow for every city independently. It's only when multiple cities coagulate in this cycle that regimes form and stability turns to stagnancy.

I would have to agree that the current state of affairs is refreshing, it is great to see so many cities and crewleaders working together for the common good, we have heard time and time again how people want to see change and and how they have grown tired of tyranical rule, so it's nice to see people actually working together to bring about much needed change and whilst things will not drastically change overnight I think we are on the right track.

As for anyone needing a cuddle blanket you are in the wrong place pal, although I have heard Artus gives good cuddles just a wee rumour though so approach with extreme caution unless you aren't afraid of getting a little wet.

I am sorry, you believe this to be for the good of the community? What we currently have? I suppose its good for you and the other leaders but I would not say as a whole community its good.

How is the growth we are currently seeing disadvantageous to the community as a whole, YolToorShul? 

Don't feed the troll guys, it's what it wants.

Gasp.

Organized crime is benefiting only the few at the top? Who would have though social justice wouldn't permeate a society where justice wouldn't tread?

"I see the growth that allows everyone freely in these streets. I remember your mothers speech, claiming the streets were dead yet it's blooming, were you too dropped on your head as a child? Coming out here stating your mother died for a street speech, yet I bet you haven't even spoken to the killer to find out what the real reason was. Have you? Didn't think so.

What funeral posts do you speak of? Do you mean a lamppost? I am confused.

I was there when Slash made his speech, and I am still here now. Only those that have crossed the line have been met with a bullet."

What growth are you seeing? The fact that people shoot people for street speaking (according to funeral speeches, something entirely different in whispers to dying ears and last letters though). Or bloodlining.

Let's take a gander back to Slash's first speech after a crew leader meeting once the real people that helped the community died. Don't worry I will help you all out by handing out the flyer once again.

Gathering a bunch of papers next to her she began to distribute them.

If we look at what this reign/regime stated then, do we see them continuing on with this? Of course not. Take a good hard look at the actions, not just the words of the people at the top. You can clearly see a pattern. Well anyone who really takes a good look at it can.

So yes, I would say based on facts that you can find just about anywhere from funerals, to street speeches, to actions taken that our community is not for the whole but for a smaller group of individuals.

Cato quickly hands YolToorShul a bunch of papers she'll be needing.

Oblivion sighs as he makes his way out to the streets where a strikingly familiar lady is spewing strikingly familiar subjects.

Ghosts! Ghosts! Oh wait YolToorShul isn't a ghost? Got it! Just the same song and dance as her mother and grandmother. Much to what BobbyMunson stated, your mother, grandmother, whichever I lose track at the rate that your lineage likes to put a gun to their head, she was not killed due to a lack of street freedom. She was killed for being a tumor to the city of LA. A non easing wave of negativity with no end. If you have one individual infecting a city with negativity, do you cater to the one person, or excise the tumor? In my opinion, the answer is clear. I believe I speak for the vast majority of people when I say, shut it. Stop it. Grow up. The only one being childish is you. The only one saying the current leadership is holding people back, is you. The only one saying the streets are dead, is you. The only one bringing about a constant wave of negativity, is you. Are we seeing a pattern? 

To cover your argument;

RobOakheart is dead. Got it. 

RobOakheart was the greatest GFC of all time. Got it.

The streets are dead because people are too afraid to speak. Not true, but, got it. 

You, or your mother, or your grandmother, is being stalked and that's why they commited suicide or why you will whatever, got it.

Youre being bloodlined, committing suicide is totally bloodlining. Got it.

Anything else?