I have no real interest is being calm or clear, or respectable here. Every step of the way, we've been making mistake after mistake dealing with the aftermath of the coup.

It would be simpler if we all just rolled over for the coupers, said they were right, and did everything they asked. It would be simpler if I would stop being "intransigent" and just went along with everything, my own opinion be damned because I caused the coup after all.

It is no mystery whatsoever why every fight so far as been along the same line, with those who agreed with the coup on one side and those who fought against it on the other. To pretend like this isn't politics is just dumb, and I don't feel like biting my tongue over it anymore.

Belschaft wants Sam to stay on the CSS because it's one way he can win. It's not that he doesn't trust me and needs a counterbalance-- if I were going to ban him, it would have been months ago. It's because we're political enemies, and he knows I don't want Sam on the CSS. So Sam being on the CSS becomes a political point to score. That's how this game has always been played, and a lot of you are pretending that's just not so.

Sit back and continue believing that these people are acting in good faith, and just want to make things better, rather than acting in their own interests and trying to get what they want and what makes them more powerful and influential. This coup happened exactly because there are too many people in this region who think by pretending cynical politics doesn't exist makes it true, and so they'll never have to deal with it. Tribalism is the defining feature of NS Gameplay, and the players who have been making all the moves are born of that part of the game.

I've been willing to listen and to make policy changes, because as long as we want to let a diverse group of players in TSP, I need to be flexible in what is possible and what is needed politically to keep the peace. But there are some things that cannot be negotiated away through objective policy changes. Some things are just straight up politics, with no middle ground that will keep the peace instead of just putting a lid on a pressure cooker. It's that latter thing that we have such a difficult time admitting and dealing with, and it's a very big part of why there was a coup and why we're still fighting in the aftermath.

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