Lately, the people running our place keep conveniently edging out victories in one tight contest after another. Every time the display flickers, they somehow slip ahead by just enough. Today brought another result that no one is supposed to question. Truly impressive. I am sure it is all pure coincidence and not the product of any creative tallying.
For the longest time, I assumed the murmurs about things being adjusted behind curtains were nothing more than excuses from those who kept falling short. But after the latest round of details came out, I am starting to think that certain readings are surprisingly flexible. Who could have imagined.
What really worries me is the overall stability of the place. If these contests stop meaning anything, the crowd eventually grows restless. Our place has been one of the rare spots in the neighbourhood that has avoided spectacular internal collapses. Meanwhile, others have cycled through dramatic shakeups, rapid-fire leadership swaps, and long stretches of turmoil. Very informative examples.
And whenever the old setup collapses elsewhere, the incoming setup usually finds new ways to complicate everything. Across much of the world, places like ours drift along in the same rigid economic stream. A full-scale internal rupture would be devastating, but apparently, we like to test limits. It feels as if one group has secured every corridor of the place. The rest of us are left to watch whatever twist comes next. This should be interesting.