Our meeting was brief - I only met you towards the end of the party, and people were already beginning to leave. You had been dancing with these people the entire night, though you showed little sign of tiring.
In the short time that we were acquainted, I learned a lot about you. I could pick up very quickly that you were the sort that people didn't easily forget. You had such charm, such charisma. You spoke with passion and zeal, with a sort of conviction that I couldn't quite argue against, even if it didn't make sense. You had people following you the entire night, people who looked like they would never leave your side. I was faced with a choice then - all of this conviction, this passion you spoke of, should I too follow it and become one of yours?
Recommended for you
This question continued to follow me as I saw you again in my hometown. You became such a prevalent figure of the community, like you were at the center of every argument, every decision. One only had to dig a little bit and there you would be, underneath the surface of everything. As a child, when I met you at that party, you seemed so sure of yourself, and I thought, "How could you possibly be wrong?" I followed you as a child, for who else could I follow but the strongest voice in the crowd?
Then I grew older, and my mind started to break free of the demagogic words you continued to lay over the community I lived in like a trance. I began to see your flaws. I questioned you, in those times when what you said didn't add up right, but you brushed me off and continued to speak in that self-assured voice that I knew so well. Your followers would do the same, and then I realized - they had known you for so long that they no longer had any power to break the spell you had woven upon them with your persuasive speech, your passionate convictions, your certainty and your confidence.
I am afraid to say that I will no longer continue to associate with you. I look upon the faces of those whom you have entranced - many of whom I consider to be my friends - and I cry inside because they will perhaps never attain the freedom that I have - the freedom to make my own decisions without your silky words opposing and conforming them. I will live in their numbers in silence, wanting to speak out each time they play back the convictions you thrust upon them, the ones that make me feel nauseous inside simply because of how wrong they are, but I will retain my silence because I know that your spell is too powerful for a small voice like mine.
But your influence is coming to an end. All across the world that I live in, your spell is weakening as people like me unite and begin to impact the world and make changes that benefit everyone. We have left you alone for a long time, but your time is drawing to a close. Your children are beginning to acquire an immunity to your manipulative nature. Your words are beginning to fall to deaf ears as your grandchildren rebel against the ways you have controlled your people for so long. People are growing together, you see. Technology allows us to share our opinions and thoughts and ideals across the entire globe, negating the effect you had by secluding people into their own communities and controlling them in small numbers.
The world is changing quickly. I apologize for our short acquaintance, and I'm sorry we couldn't have met under better circumstances. But then again, perhaps I am glad that I didn't know you for long. I enjoy my freedom to think, because it allows me to make better decision that will benefit not only me, but my neighbors all across the world. It saddens me that you still retain influence on so many of my friends and family. But I cannot stay with you any longer, and I bid you goodbye.
I can only hope that as the world changes, you change too.
