No, in truth, guys usually get what we call "pulled up on the carpet" and read the riot act by their skipper when a solider steps out of line or commits an infraction before you get shelved. I've even seen skippers broken like shit when they fuck up. (Happened to an uncle of mine). Everybody thinks when you get "made" you got it made. Bullshit. From that day forward (depending upon who you are, and who your skipper is of course, good or bad), you often walk with two feet in one shoe at their pleasure.

Being made (unless your a real fucking man and not a mutt) can be a pain in the ass. You can become an indentured servant to some neurotic skipper who has a Nepoleonic complex and enjoys breaking your balls.

Often times remaining a well respected "associate" actually provides you more flexibility and a wider berth than being locked in. Take Jimmy Nap Napoli. He remained an "well respected" associate until 65 years old. Thats when Jimmy got his zipper. From that point forward he received nothing but headaches in his life. Joe Lane Gentile also. I'm sure Jimmy lamented the day he ever accepted his button. There are MANY others I could mention here but won't out of respect for their privacy. But you get the idea correct?

If you're a money guy (maybe a multimillionaire), operate your own sports and/or shylock book, own a few profitable businesses, live like a king, and are largely an unknown to LE or at least "off their radar," why the fuck would you wanna put yourself on front street nowadays and be "made?" For what? So some dumbbell skipper who can hardly write his own name can order you around and make you his lackey? And so all the rats out there today can immediately advise their FBI handlers you're "made" so the FBI places a target on your back?

A top goodfella, very near and dear to me, once told me (in fact told me a thousand times if he said it once). That "button" don't mean shit if you're a mutt. If you were a man before you get straightened out, then you're be a man after you're straightened out. If you were a piece of shit, you remain a piece of shit. That "button" doesnt make you any more than you ever were. Of course, you can now push your weight around with jerk-offs, but with real men? They're tell you to stick that button up your ass.

The entire idea is to respect the Man, not the badge he's hiding behind. Thats why we got so many blowjobs in the ranks today. They were nobody's before and they're still nobody's. We respect the "position" but NOT the man who carries it. THAT is a very dangerous place to be. A "goodfella" whose viewed as a jerk-off.
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I'm now gonna make a huge statement that many here on the forum won't believe or understand. Today, in New York, there are more savvy and sharp non-inducted "associates" who would normally have ranked as well-respected "goodfellas," than there are actual savvy and sharp "made men." FACT!

Why you ask? Here's why. Only the uneducated and uninitiated hoodlums 'green' to the life accept buttons today for the most part. The "savvier" hoodlums for lack of a better word, remain as they are, "associates" who are well plugged in to the hierarchy, earn well, keep their heads low, and don't hang around mob social clubs or hangouts with lots of other known mafiosi.

They do their own thing and kick up an envelope on occasion to stay in good graces with their skipper or boss. It allows them to NOT have to attend wakes, weddings, and other social events which are mandatory for members. It also allows them to say NO, if asked to perform some stupid shit like batting a guy who owes $12 dollars or otherwise going out on a limb to do something that they know or feel will fuck them up. When you're a member, you have NO such choice.

Everything you do goes "on record" with the family, and they most often eat the lions share of your hard work that you risked life and liberty for. As a soldier, you can't say shit or you're viewed as a troublemaker. A label you don't wanna receive.

But an "associate-member" operates more freely, doesn't have to put everything he's doing "on record," keeps what he likes and kicks up what he deems appropriate to the situation at hand. If called upon to perform a task he feels distasteful, he can decline to be involved and NO ill will befalls him because he never swore that oath to follow blindly.

There are a hundred more reasons I can give, but you get the idea by now, am I correct?
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Another huge fallacy of associates is that if they can get made, they'll start earning big and will soon be "in the chips." Complete unadulterated bullshit!

If you were a brokester before you got straightened out, 99% of the time you'll remain a brokester. The fortunes of wiseguys fall largely on the shoulders of the individual. If he's what's called an "earner" then he's an earner and just has the knack for generating money. He doesn't need a button to make money. If he's a knuckle dragger or a knucklehead, he remains so after they pin that button on him. NOBODY in the mob is "giving" you anything. In fact, its the complete opposite, you are now fully committed to "kick up" money to them, whether or not you have it.

It's basically an underworld pyramid scheme of the first order. Money flows up, not down! And thats another fact of mob life. A star is ALWAYS a star. A JERKOFF is always a jerk off.