I can't pretend like you guys don't have valid criticisms. I mean, no, you don't need to be an official member to be a cool person, to enjoy riding mopeds, to help out your fellow mopedders, to be helped out by your fellow mopedders, to be trusted or liked, or anything else. Hell, IRE proves that, the BM proves that, the Spokesmen (who are also applying) prove that, and a bunch of other unofficial gangs and unaffiliated people prove that.
So yeah, if you're a member, you get a fun little icon next to your name. You get access to the members forums (although this forum proves that you don't need to be an official branch to have a bombin' group forum). You get crash space at rallies and other members are likely to trust you (even if they don't know you) because you're also a member (and probably also because it's easier to hold you accountable). Is that worth the hazing and hating? Apparently it is to some people, or else there wouldn't be branches applying and there wouldn't be a lot of the current branches.
The whole logo-next-to-the-name thing is/can be kind of elitist, yes. But it also says two things, at least in my opinion. 1) It says "I'm dedicated to this whole moped thing. 2) It says, "There are people who know me in real life who think I'm a pretty cool dude/lady dude." Can you be dedicated and cool without a logo? Absolutely. Does having a logo next to your name mean you're never stupid or an asshole? Absolutely not. But it's still a symbol for something, and I think that something is more positive than negative (assuming we can ignore the elitism that tags along with the symbol).
I'm not sure which viewpoint I'm really with here, because you guys have really good arguments, but I still feel like there IS (must be?) a good reason to apply. So yeah, I'm a fence sitter, and now you've gotten to enjoy my ramblings of the day.
And about dissing Missouri ... if it makes you feel any better, they said that Kansas was actually the worst state. Missouri was only second worst.
