Join the new world

Populism is such a useful tool, is it not? Mass appeal. Working for "the people", whoever that is.

Now, I haven't written an article - or done much of anything here in the eWorld - in quite a while; I ask you not to be alarmed. Let me simply say that I have had important things to address, and many personal matters to take care of. With much of that business out of my way, I have no problem with dedicating some of my time - if only a few minutes - to this newspaper.

Though I've not been particularly active in the past few weeks, I've noticed a growing trend. The attitude of "this is a game, let's have some fun" has become increasingly prevalent, as has the inherent silliness accompanying it. I've also seen a raise in the same kind of slimy-though-seemingly-friendly politicking I've grown accustomed to in the real world. With the new economic and military modules looming on the horizon, it's sometimes difficult not to compare this fictional world with the real one from which the game promises a temporary escape.

To be entirely honest, I haven't really been keeping up with current events. Why so many people have tried to secure a place as AAP Party President entirely eludes me. Call me ignorant if you wish (for, what else am I?), but it seems to me that this game is taking a rather unwarranted turn for the tighter.

By tighter, I of course mean the more strictly controlled. From the articles I've sifted through, and the ads I've seen, there's a growing sentiment of individual self-righteousness and power-hungry ambition. There seem to be a lot of wannabe visionaries out there, all of whom would really like to get their hands on the opportunity to have some control, perhaps restore a bit of order to a largely anarchic world. Granted, we have national administrations who sweep up our messes, but the point remains.

These would-be heroes all seem to share an arguably populist stance on things. Everyone is trying to appeal to the faceless masses; to please an anonymous collective. Their weapons of choice: catchy slogans, funny pictures, and relentless smear campaigns. Certainly, these are merely tools of the political trade, but I still find it highly amusing that these same people have the audacity to act as friends to each other, despite the stains regularly delivered by each to the others' reputations. Such is the way of our world, I suppose.

Now that I think about it, I suppose that I ought to apologize for the disjointed nature of this article. More than anything, this is a disorganized collection of thoughts, quite unsuitable for public view; however, I shall continue regardless.

I ask, where is the threshold? I speak, of course, of the threshold between reality and illusion; between uninhibited ambition and polite convention; between political and social necessity. People seem to like pretending that there isn't any clash - that there is no ideological battle going on. Perhaps - and this is only speculation, naturally - there really isn't any clash. One could say that "the majority votes this way", or "the people want this", but that's all empty rhetoric, really. What that person means is, "one or two ambitious men persuaded the rest of the spineless, ideologically bankrupt mob to vote this way, and convinced them that this is what each man of the mob wanted." How little effort it takes to mold an illusion into a form which can be passed off as reality. These men have done a fine job turning silence into harmony. Reality and illusion. A and ~A. Laughably, wishful thinking doesn't mean that ~A can be A. Of course, people are free to believe that the second law is invalid, and the men on top are more than entertained by constructing things to appear way.

I suppose, when it comes down to it, that these sorts of men don't accept the existence of that threshold, presuming to have destroyed it; and, hell, they wouldn't acknowledge its importance even if they recognized its existence. Interestingly enough, bees seem to be a successful species, and they spend their lives buzzing mindlessly to defend the queen and the hive. I wonder if bees could be considered political creatures on par with mankind.

Well, I suppose that I've rambled on long enough. For those intelligent enough to understand, perhaps we'll talk sometime. For everyone else, I've nothing more.