“Transition” of Power

One Tenties Chronicle of Events

Failure can be an opportunity.

Except, in this case, the failure was catastrophic and the opportunity was seized by the wrong hands.

All the signs were evident. However, we chose to ignore them.

For years prior to the transition, we allowed the fate of our civilization to rest in the hands of the world’s elite and the corporations that feed into the global power structures. I guess the justification was “wouldn’t they want to protect their own planet? Wouldn’t they eventually put sustainability over profits?” These people have children and grandchildren.

We were wrong…

If history has taught us anything, it’s that when we, as a human collective, are faced with a particular danger, hardship, or crisis, we have a propensity for pointing the finger. We tend to shift blame to external forces; it’s the current system. It’s the people in charge who ensure the gears within the system keep turning. Or, it’s a group of people who are different from us.

Soon after, we begin searching for the next best thing.

This is typically when certain people or groups appear out of thin air and willfully promise a better tomorrow. They’ve assessed the situation at hand and determined it’s the ideal time to begin weaponizing our fears, our confusion, and most importantly our naivety.

And more often than not, we set our trepidations aside, and embrace them. This allows us to shed our guilt, rid ourselves of any accountability, and fulfill that genetically predisposed void in us all that seeks this elusive notion of “protection” — as if it even exists.

Except, this time, there were no debates, no votes, and really no choice, so to speak. When The EO took power a new precedent was set. And when I say The EO took power, I mean they took power. A single regime now had sovereignty over the entire Republic. All of it. The whole kit and kaboodle.

We were officially a united civilization.

At first, this seemed like an optimistic and hopeful outcome. But, as we all know, looks can be deceiving…

How it Began:

Roughly 6 months ago a government-sponsored broadcast system alert was pushed to every smart device that was connected to a network. It instructed everyone to tune into a mandatory worldwide broadcast, scheduled to begin in 15 minutes.

I was on the road at the time so I anxiously pulled over and turned on my iHalo, which was an integrated 10G wristband with a 3D holographic display. That’s when the spokesperson for the GCA (Global Crisis Alliance) took the stage and informed every global citizen of the cataclysm we were inevitably facing. It was said that water levels had recently begun rising at an alarming and unprecedented rate and top scientific experts predicted that at this pace the entirety of our planet would be submerged within a matter of 15–25 years. Furthermore, a Global Climate Reform Bill had been passed and would be instituted immediately. This meant a substantial budget reallocation towards climate hazard deceleration and the expedited research and development of clean energy alternatives, as well as the banning of all corporate and industrial activity that contributed to climate degradation. However, even though the message had bleak overtones, it still had a subtly optimistic undertone. The CGA conveyed a message of achievability.

Obviously, as you can imagine, people didn’t react well. The world quickly became a seething cauldron of emotional responses. Anger, panic, outrage, and fear instantly ensued. The level of leadership mistrust was officially at an all-time high and we all assumed this could actually be the beginning of the end.

The ripple effect was more than palpable. Small protests and riots broke out globally. Markets tanked, jobs were lost, entire industries shut down overnight.

But shortly after the broadcast, maybe a week or so, we started hearing a lot of murmurs about something called TAP or “The Answer Party”. Apparently, it was a grassroots movement founded by an unknown group of individuals who claimed they’ve been warning global governments of this inevitability for several years and had a promising plan to solve the current crisis.

At the very beginning, they didn’t call themselves the Overlords or the EO. They were simply referred to as “The Answer Party” and branded their mission as a global movement for the sustainable development of our race. Pretty clever if you ask me. They knew if they didn’t first gain our trust and foster support, they wouldn’t have sufficient time to strategically implement their desired global structure. Especially with mass hysteria in full effect. They even gave themselves a catchy slogan: “We’re All Gonna Make It” or WAGMI for short.

It was only a matter of days before their ads were streaming on smart devices, social platforms, and TVs everywhere. They were very intense, yet oddly captivating. Somber visuals wrapped in blatant symbolism. Their videos reached billions of streams. Pictures of people wearing their newly purchased TAP merch were overwhelming all my feeds. Younger people especially gravitated to their content and overall message. Looking back, the way they capitalized on the state of affairs was truly ingenious.

Simply put, their tactics worked. They began mobilizing people at a rate I’d never witnessed before. They were gaining thousands of new members by the hour and their momentum only seemed to increase with each passing day. People were looking for something to believe in and sometimes destiny perfectly aligns the intentions of the wicked with the desires of the good.

It was only a matter of time before they began to penetrate the upper echelons of government and politics. Eventually, even high-ranking govt officials, military generals, and leaders of entire nations, both free and oppressed, began publicly declaring their allegiance to TAP.

It was a gradual process that started off with some leaked intra-governmental transmissions then progressed to audio and footage leaks. It later was publicized that TAP was using member donations as promissory bribes and leveraging their most powerful allies to convert their respective networks of prominent individuals, promising them and their corrupt friends a hefty financial stake in the prosperity of a new republic within the paradigm of an entirely new world.

To be fair, if I was in their position, I would’ve set my ambivalence aside and taken that deal too. There really was no feasible alternative. They didn’t want to jeopardize their amassed fortunes or test their luck. If you’re faced with the decision to place your faith in a new systemic structure that ensures your wealth and status are retained or remain faithful to a system that is obviously losing traction, you’re indisputably taking the road with the most upside. The rich and powerful were predictable. Maybe even the most predictable. Not to mention, by that point, it was evidently clear that TAP was the future.

The next hurdle, if you want to call it that, for TAP, was that most nations were years away from an election cycle. However, this movement transcended borders, elections, & politics. This was a train that had already left the train station and wasn’t stopping until it reached its destination.

It was about a month later when something unexpected happened. Something that had never happened before.

TAP called for a press conference to address the world. By then they had millions of global supporters, stretching to every corner of our planet. They were able to do something that our society had never seen. They seemingly unified people from all different beliefs, ethnicities, backgrounds, and socio-economic classes.

This press conference was due to receive the highest viewership out of any event in the history of televised events. The world was watching. When the day finally arrived, their spokesperson appeared on stage. He was stoic. Confident. Prepared. He approached the mic and fervently moved it closer to his mouth. I found it odd he was wearing a TAP “We’re All Gonna Make It” shirt over his $18,000 custom-tailored suit. I just recall it looked so bizarre and purposely distracting.

The spokesperson started off by unapologetically discussing the abysmal failure of all the national leadership, along with the elites, the corporations, and those put in positions of power who failed to protect the people and more importantly the planet. He then passionately proceeded to state the official number of followers their movement had garnered and expressed that this was the largest single movement in the history of our world. It was monumental. If I remember accurately, it was something like 212 million people, which at that time was roughly 10% or so of the total population.

What happened next was remarkably significant and would live on in infamy.

Firstly, he subconsciously conveyed to all the viewers that TAP now held all the cards. All the leverage. Then, like a rabbit out of a hat, he boldly announced that a secret vote had been held amongst all national leadership, some without the knowledge of their respective governments and that The Answer Party was now officially the sole ruling entity of, at that time, the entire world. This was followed by the introduction of a 90-day restructure plan that laid out certain details for the unification of society, a 6-month timeline for a solution to the rising water crisis, the future sustainability of our planet, and the continuity of our civilization. It was rather profound and honestly refreshing to hear that there were people out there who had an actionable plan.

Following the press conference, news of world leaders stepping down and seceding power was breaking every few hours. One after another, like dominoes. Subsequently, the day after TAP’s announcement, their plan was already being enacted and the path to a brighter future was already in motion. Albeit, some of the details seemed rushed and nonsensical, but these were extenuating circumstances. Nothing about this was normal or conventional. I distinctly remember thinking, “maybe the perplexing nature of some of these policies and initiatives is a good thing”. We all gave them the benefit of the doubt because, in all fairness, we were fighting against time.

Following the revelations of the press conference, there was a noticeable shift in global sentiment — to one of hopefulness. Although it was ephemeral, it appeared that faith had been restored.

There were still some questions that remained unanswered.

We’d all seen the TAP spokesperson and we’d all seen other various “representatives”, but we really had no knowledge as to who the people behind the movement really were.

What was their story?

Did they have families?

What have they accomplished in their lives to have blindly earned our trust?

Did they grow up rich? Poor?

Do they have an education?

Were they private citizens?

There were just too many distractions to do proper due diligence. There was too much at stake for pessimism or apprehension. The few instances where people voiced their apprehensions regarding the motives of the TAP founders usually resulted in backlash, censorship, and mass silencing. After all, who would want to be the person to challenge the notion of change, unification, and sustainability of our planet?

Not me…