The Distraction of the 10/10/10 Performance
Ladies and Gentlemen of Bob:
Today, hundreds of Bob's citizens watched, their hearts heavy with hope, as Jim Bob the Glorious made the heavily anticipated "10/10/10" announcement. I was one among this crowd, but I had hardly camped out in the town square to be close to the stage. Rather, I was in the back of the crowd, looking on the scene skeptically. However, I, in mimicry of the rest of the throng of Bob's citizens in attendance, could not help but feel the faintest glimpse of hope. Maybe, I thought, maybe today would be special despite my doubts.
As I awaited the announcement, I could not help but reflect on the causes of the palpable anticipation that permeated the air at the event and feel some degree of revulsion. As you, dear reader, undoubtedly know, Planet Bob has slipped into an era of deep stagnation, caused by the fear which has left the most influential leaders of Bob mortified. This fear, shared by the most prominent alliances of our time, is simply the fear of loss of status that may result from any attempt to gain more power over other alliances. This fear of failure is comparable to the fear of a bashful schoolboy who does not approach an attractive girl because he fears the embarrassment of being rejected by her. It is because this lack of confidence exists on Bob that we have entered a period that hardly differs from the Pax Pacifica- a Pax Pluribus, if you will.
Under normal circumstances, I would, rather than feeling anger toward the frightened leaders of Bob for this period of stagnation, feel only a contempt for such leaders and simply chide them for not taking a more active role in the advancement of their alliances. However, these leaders took power by what they convinced the populous was an upheaval of the planet's power structure and, upon taking the reins, found collaborating and forming a dominant structure to be far too convenient. And that, dear friends, is why throngs of citizens waited with much anticipation for the "10/10/10" announcement; they felt as if, at last, "Karma's" promise of liberty in Planet Bob would finally be fulfilled.
Instead the 10/10/10 announcement turned out, to me, to be a frustrating disappointment. Boldly, these 10 alliances, in their joint announcement, lamented the perils caused by the current dominant political bloc of alliances, of which the "10" are members, and claimed to have a solution
We, the 10 alliances of 10.10.10, have gathered together to fight the single greatest threat to Bob. This growing menace, created by the tangled web, controlled by the treaty, and masters of us all must be destroyed.
However, the announcement merely turned out to be the commencement of a simple game. There was no societal change, no broad declarations, simply a childish game to be played only among the ten mentioned alliances.
Why is this so objectionable to me? Because the ten alliances, Athens, NpO, UPN, GATO, FAN, RnR, Fark, Sparta, WTF (who is, admittedly, an outlier of neutrality) and FoK, seem to think that the populous is so gullible that this simple game is enough to appease our desire for a freer Bob. They seem to honestly believe that with simply a display of willingness to play a fun little game, the populous' discontent with their cowardice will be simply swept under the rug. Admittedly, this deception may work; the announcement was certainly hailed strongly by the masses. Nevertheless, I like to believe that many others see what I see: a publicity stunt to distract the masses from the real problems that exist because of the cowardice of those in power.
This is simply my warning to those who use the current collaborative power structure to exist peacefully and prevent all alliances outside of the structure from thriving: We are not fools. Soon, all of Planet Bob will see that you are its ruin, and you will be swept away by the tidal wave that is the will of the masses.
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