Mr_Keating steps out of his humble car, steps onto his humble soapbox, and begins to address the unusually humble crowd gathered at his usual spot...

"Friends, I have noticed a few people, Revenant among then, try to reinvigorate the Competitive Writing Community - a community that is, as far as I'm concerned, the most entertaining entity in organised crime.

We might ask ourselves: how did we arrive at this point?

Why are there no newspapers?

Why did offers of start-up cash for publications remain unclaimed?

Why have no contests recently attracted sufficient numbers?

Why is debate stifled on these here Street corners?

Friends, these are far from bland questions.

Why, my friends, are the Streets quiet?"

Thanks for coming out today Mr_Keating you're always a welcomed face out here on the streets. I've been pondering the same things as of late. It seemed, not long ago, that there had been a resurgence of activity on the streets. We had new faces coming out and sharing their opinions, but things have been feeling... well dead. 

But regardless of my rambling, you asked some questions. I think the crux of the issue is nobody wants to put in the effort required to become an orator. It's become too easy to sit at home and only come out a couple times a day to 'conduct business.' There isn't a reason to come out and speak or go through the efforts of publishing a newspaper. 

We don't expect our leaders to be public figures anymore. As long as they keep the doors open and keep their heads down nobody questions it. We've seemingly moved past the era where public speaking was an important aspect of life to people. I suppose people have just given up on the streets. The avid speakers are all opening businesses and staying close to home. Perhaps this is just the way of things now. 

I will leave this with a few quotes I've picked up from some of the members of the community: 

I do believe there is a certain degree of apathy. I'm hesitant to speculate as to the root cause of this apathy. If I was forced to postulate a hypothesis, however, I would say that I believe this could be as a result of rewards (sic) being readily available, thereby mitigating the necessity for street discussion. - Rorschach (RHM, NY) 

Talk, start in your crew, move to the shops and bars, start small and work up, and don't let anyone tell you that what you write is shite. It doesn't matter what you say, as long as you try to say something. If there are folks in your HQ, district or city who publish or speak, hit them up for advice, most will be happy to help. - Lincoln_Lawyer (RHM, DT) 

The climate of our world has changed. We went from bloodline of Ganelon in the streets to sensitive pussy individuals that entitled little cunts. You can't disagree with someone with out getting sand in their vagina throwing the biggest tantrum and it turn into a pointless killing. Debates are a thing of the past as we only care about survival and how long we can stay in power. Who cares that you managed to live for 300+ days. It should be about you did for growth. Your legacy isn't just about being a great shooter like Mickey Anderson or Tyrant of Thomas Rourke. Its about what you did for the community. - Redacted (CL) 

I thought these quotes were worth looking at and merited some additional discussion.  

Redacted (CL) sounds like a bit of a wet blanket. 

"...quotes I've picked up..."

That's an interesting way of saying "quotes I've gleaned from a home-made, OOC questionnaire that I personally generated and sent out to specific individuls several weeks ago, then quoted - out of context - without mention of the loaded questions posed".

Is it really any wonder why people refuse to engage when there are a small number of people wilfully distorting the replies of the few who do respond?

Peace out.

There are ways of criticising without drawing the ire of the powers that be. Grin ran several newspapers over the years, sometimes he was asinine sometimes he was constructive, but generally he got away with his publications because 1] he had earned his place as a leader to be respected 2] he often offered constructive criticism without malice (occasionally this malice was there, so see point 1) 3] everything was always done with a touch of humour.

I am not disparaging you when I say this Mr Keating but other than point 3 I don't believe that out community in general respects you, there are obviously people who do, but they seem to be in the minority. Furthermore, your criticism, whilst sometimes on the money can been seen as self serving, abrasive and non constructive. Respect is earned, not given. Its an old mantra, but one both our bloodlines are familiar with. Likewise we've both been around the block enough to remember a time when public disrespect was enough to get you killed. Personally I think that things have mellowed over the years, what we can say in the streets and get away with is far more than what we would have gotten away with 5, 10 or 20 years ago. Several of my ancestors paid with their lives for speaking their minds in the streets. 

As for the general malaise we have seen in recent times, there are several reasons for this. Firstly, as has been brought to my attention your and my very public squabble has deterred many from coming to the streets. This is something that I hope we have both put behind us, so hopefully over time it may encourage a few to engage. Secondly, membership has been slowly dropping over the years, a lot of the bloodlines that were regulars to the streets are gone, perhaps temporarily, perhaps permanently. I've addressed this elsewhere, but a lot of our conversations have moved to coffee shops, people are done with the public ridicule that has often gone hand in hand with public speaking. Thirdly, things have moved on. Once upon a time everything was announced in the streets. You got auth, your sponsor made an announcement and then you made an acceptance speech. Got Godfather, one of your hands made a speech about how awesome you are. Significant birthday? Celebration announcement. Parties, celebrations, discussions, debates, and dare I say it, gibberish, I remember reading in one of the family diaries about a speech about new and improved moo.But times have changed, people are now more reactive than interactive and they want that instant dopamine high from 'clicking away' not that slow burn us old timers enjoy. Who wants to spend 20 minutes making a well thought out speech only to have some crackhead jabroni... erm nobody simply wander past saying "I'm sure this was great. Tl:dr"? 

Ultimately I believe that the rut we are in is systemic, and anything we do without general buy in will be akin to treating a gunshot wound with a sticking plaster.

Mr. Rorschach I'm not sure why you're having such a vile response to me sharing a quote from you. I don't think I've done any disservice in presenting the opinion, but perhaps you are correct and I should give the asked question as well. As well, when you were given the opportunity to answer some questions for me I told you it was for future publication. This didn't seem entirely necessary to add to the quote since it was already the primary discussion being had, but here you go

Would you say that the streets are being repressed, or is it a general lack of apathy towards public speaking?

I don't think that this changes the reason why people aren't coming out to the streets, and by trying to say that your words are being distorted is disingenuous. As a high ranking member of this world it is up to you to set the examples. 

I tend to agree with much of what Lincoln_Lawyer has to say, besides his personal history with Mr_Keating, there seems to have been an exodus from the streets and people are much more comfortable sitting in their coffee houses completely ignoring street discussions.

Is this just a new normal for us now? Fighting for engagement from people who don't want to participate? 

"vile response"? Okay Doc.

The question Mr_Keating posed is not the same as the one you posed. Mr_Keating's question was open-ended, yours was close-ended.

My response robustly refuted your assertion that the streets were being supressed (a question I replied to more than a month ago, I may add).

To withhold your survey replies for over a month, then post them in an unlinked discussion - without explanation, is far more disingenuous than anything I've said, in my opinion.

This is a discussion about the decline of the streets. How could a survey about the decline of the streets be unlinked? 

As I said before, I think these quotes are worth looking at and merit further discussion because I agree with them. I've in no way altered your opinion or painted it to be something negative. But I suppose this is why debates on the streets don't go anywhere. 

Do I think people are being stopped from posting in the streets? Of course not. Are they being encouraged to do so? Not much from what I've seen.  

What can we do to get out of this rut and how can we get people interested in participating? Surely, arguing semantics is not the way to move forward. 

My bad then Doc, it appears I have misread the situation. To answer your question, however, I’m always interested in discussing ways to liven up the streets. I still believe a historic inheritance is a part of the reason for the dearth of conversation, albeit a small part. The streets are generally livelier towards the beginning of regimes, or when people feel unfairly squeezed or oppressed, from my experience. With a lack of controversial practices, like purging, I think there is also a lack of new material. What’s left to be discussed or debated that hasn’t already been?

I just wish someone would enter my contest. It helps to have some different perspectives of characters rather than trying to write them all. 

Revenant it's tough getting people to participate in recent times. I was just running a give-away where all people had to do was show up and get free money. Even that only had two participants. 

Trying to get people to put some effort into a competition seems like a stretch. It's a far reach from where we were a few months ago that's for sure. 

Mr_Keating I was considering a series of low-effort events/competitions to get people back into the swing of things, but my previous attempt to do this failed. Perhaps it was a marketing failure, but I am thinking that people just aren't coming to the streets at all. 

I'm happy to brainstorm some community ideas on how to increase engagement. I'd like to make street speaking approachable for anyone regardless of their status in life. 

The decline in street activity is not new. The discussions of street activity, (lack of) seem to be the number one street activity topic. Think about that for a minute. Yet there are folks who do hit the streets with little or no response. How many actually stop for a minute to take the time to read new posts in the streets that literally have nothing to do with this topic at hand?  How many who have much to say about the lack of street activity initiate activity outside this topic?  

There is a low effort event, not a competition happening as I speak. Leading by example is in order. Is that not how it all began 20 years ago?

Pepsi-Cola thanks for joining the conversation. I agree that the decline is not new, but all the same we should still be looking at ways to fix it. I think that this topic tends to draw a lot of interest because people are concerned and want more.

Personally, I stop and listen to every single thing in the streets. I take multiple walks a day to check out what is new and going on. I don't always participate but if I'm feeling up to it I will. Granted I think that nearly everyone who has come out to this discussion I is responsible for the little activity left in some way or another. 

As Rorschach said "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." 

Mr_Keating it seems like an interesting idea to me. Perhaps a roast? Everyone loves a good a roast. 

Mr.  Rorschach stands correct when he stated, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." So why does this topic continuously come up? Should we assume not everyone is up to it?