* Richard_Kuklinski begins a discussion... *

This thing of ours has its roots in Sicily, amongst peasants that formed a paramilitary group, one that staged an uprising. Whilst the raison d'etre of the organisation has changed utterly one thing has remained; it is a paramilitary organisation. The members are armed, orders are issued, orders are received, wars happen, people do. There is a clear hierarchy, there are greivances and there are disciplinary measures.

Within this particular things of ours, wars tend to be absolute affairs. There are rarely, if ever, sit-downs halfway through a war between two crews or cities. It is, essentially, a fight to the death. This is one of the reasons that discipline is so tight. Wars do not make good business sense - not in the short or medium term anyway. Yet they happen, fairly often. Most often this is because of transgression from accepted norms. But also sometimes because of commercial interests. Most often, perhaps, a mixture of the two.

As with the outside world, war can be total. The marketplace goes into flux, normal business slows or ceases. Recent times have seen the advent of the 'city take down', when a city falls, sometimes due to the actions of one or more of the ranking members of that city. I'm not going to get drawn on the rights or wrongs of this happening. That is a topic for debate.

Our particular thing of ours could be described as a paramilitary business. Is this an oxymoron? There are CEO, middle management and lots of lovely cash. Will the paramilitary part always affect the business? What if business were to drive the paramilitary aspect? Well, that might be boring. What do you reckon?

I think that wherever is MONEY in the middle killing the other is the way to get it.If there were no WAR there would be no COSA-NOSTRA.Because for what is yours you should fight till the end.I believe that this thing of ours is mostly for respect and not for money.

War and business are two things there are no getting away from in this life. None of us can get by if we don't make any money and none of us can get by if we get killed - better to kill the other guy before he kills you. It's not an oxymoron it's the way things are. We live in a violent capitalistic society - who would have it any other way?

The first mafiosos in Italy used to say :- PICULI U RISPETO! Which means :-Money and Respect. Thats what this thing of ours is and it will always be.

To your point of what if the business were the driving force of the militarism. I would like to point out that our setup allows just as much crime to occur as we like. There are endless banks to rob and anyone can walk in and rob it. It seems to me that if territory mattered a little more, maybe business would drive the paramilitarism.

The best way to make lots of money quickly and efficiently is with fear. Of course there are other options, but those take time. Investing in some stock, starting a real estate company... those things take time and the money comes slowly. With this thing of ours we make money fast. We get down and dirty, our workers are efficient and we haul in huge sums of money in relatively little time. I think that as long as this is possible there will always be paramilitarism. 

Recent times have seen the advent of the 'city take down'

Recent times? really, my line has been about these streets for a long time and this is not something new in the slightest. but that is besides the point you are trying to make.

You claim that we are all paramilitary organisations, I have to disagree with that. I'm a businessman, I have people who work for me. Yes they may be armed but that is only for self defence, the business I'm in is very dangerous and I wouldn't want to think that one of my employees was out their unprotected.

The simple idea of paramilitary amuses me greatly, it's another way to romanticize those who take arms, to hurt others for their own ideals/pleasure.

I do things solely for profit, ideal and pleasure have no place in my business, that is how things become personal and that is one of the worst hazards to good business.

To however say that war does not make good business sense is perhaps folly. As a new crew leader have you not found that a little war is helpful to growing your organisation? I know for me I have some people with me that have survived wars and to be honest I am grateful that they did and came to me, for they have proved most valuable.

As for the cash driving the gun being boring, yes I know I'm paraphrasing. It's only boring if you let it be boring. If someone has a bloodlust that can't be cured by honest business, then they need to look at their position and possibly consider that someone else would be better suited where they are.

Business needs sometime call for a bit of a competetive edge and in order to insure we can stay competetive we i sometimea have a need to resort to men who have a way of getting things done when eords fail. In this thing of ours we are all businessmen, however its not always about pure cash values. This thing of ours is also about respect and when we are disrespected in such a way that cant be fixed by words alone, it then is time to call in our men of action to take care of the situation so business can resume.