Dear Citizen,

Do you hear the people sing?

A foundational element of The Empire was the lack of control it wielded over the citizenry.  In fact, it was control over unwilling populations that initially led to The Empire’s foundation.  In reaction to that control, The Empire had always, both legally and culturally, protected the sovereignty of the individual in as many cases as they could.  That, sadly, is no longer the case.

Culturally, the Imperial population is just as proud, individualistic, and remarkably weird as it has always been.  But in reality, the experience of the citizenry does not allow that.  And the mismatch between the two is the perpetual motion machine that powers the destruction of you all.

Like a blemish in a photograph or a slight tilt in a hung portrait, once you see this imperfection you will not be able to un-see it.  I apologize if you do not want this information.  Turn back now if you prefer the blue pill.

Let us look at four examples within the last 12 months.

First, a novel virus rips through the world causing reactionary shutdowns, curfews, and restrictions.  This is not loved, but it is accepted as a necessary action.  However, the restrictions begin to ease for some and not for others.  It appears to many, that those with close ties to policy makers are given a choice (movie studios may open if they like, teachers may stay at home if they like) while many who would prefer to open (small businesses) or stay home (essential workers) are not given a choice.  These being imperial citizens, endowed with a deep senses of fairness and mercy, quietly rage behind their masks.

 Second, a minority population is shown in graphic detail the inequities they bear before the law in criminal justice situations.  These being Imperial citizens, who by nature expect to be treated equally, take to the streets in protest.  Some, feeling their rights so violated, turn violent.

Third, the largest political figure in modern history marshals his underlings in office and champions in media to drive a false narrative that the votes of millions of you were defiled, and that their very existence as self-determining citizens was stolen.  These being Imperial citizens, who love their leader and the country they believe they had lost, take to the Capitol and some turn violent.

Finally, a group of citizens who gather online to discuss equity markets spot an anomaly in the data indicating a ripe opportunity to profit off an elite money manager’s mistake.  They rally together, using a relatively new source of market access previously reserved for only the richest of traders, and utterly crush the elite money managers.  That is, of course, until the access they have to the market is taken from them while the access of the elite money managers is retained. 

What, dear citizen, should we expect as the outcome of our fourth case study?  The answer is clear: when Imperial citizens believe they are being treated differently from others they react.  When they believe they’re being controlled unfairly, they protest.  When elite powers appear to push down those who have less wealth, less access, less historical agency, the populace fumes and fights back.

That is good.  That is a healthy immune response of a free people.  But, it ends in disaster if the systems of power do not respond and correct the errors. The individuals holding positions of power in politics, journalism, finance, education, religion, entertainment, and bureaucracy, either ignore the problems or patronize the people.  These elites benefit from the status quo and increasingly the people are seeing the failures of these institutions to hold up the Imperial ideal of equality.

When an institution fails internally and is reviled externally, it dies. These institutions are the internal supports of The Empire and throughout its history The Empire has had to make repairs to sporadic frays and fractures.  But never before have so many institutions corrupted at the same time.  We here on Terminus can see what a hollowed shell the Empire has become.  And I’m sorry if you now see it too.

Stay True my Friend,

Terminus.