"On top of that, you are suggesting the responsibility should fall less so on the uppers which is not how things work here."

Yes boss.

Personally, I'd like the entertainment to be in the form of Matty providing daily dances to summarise his mood. I feel like activity would skyrocket. 

On another note, I do fear Matty that you are pissing into the wind. The request and this speech in general I feel was in good faith but has primarily received a load of bollocks from a bunch of nobodies. It's everyone's responsibility to maintain a good level of activity around here. You can run as many shitty competitions (hopefully not writing competitions, I've heard they can be deadly) as you like but when no fucker turns up, what's the point? 

I'm as guilty as the next guy for not joining in with a competition or event that some well intentioned person has organised but I do not then criticise said person for not making everyone take part. 

You can take a horse to water and then Spikey will shout "YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG"

Alternatively, you could not take the horse to water and then Spikey will shout "YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG" 

In a world which is very much the sum of its parts, choosing not to contribute will inevitably lead to a lesser experience for everyone. As others have pointed out, if the active, vocal minority are killed then their absence is felt and it suddenly feels a lot quieter. Whilst you can argue that leaders are facilitators, I don't think that is necessarily their role any more than anyone else save for ensuring a relatively safe space for respectful contributions.

I do believe that the easiest way to trigger street activity is by things happening, which means interaction rather than necessarily just people dying. The more people interact with each other, the more likely it is that relationships change and develop, positively and negatively, which creates a more dynamic and interesting environment. When everyone is silent and doing nothing it tends to feel a bit flat, at least to me. 

Ultimately, I feel the days of a leader having to have some sort of street presence have long since gone as we traded practicality over idealism, so it is disingenuous to pretend they hold a greater responsibility than anyone else. We, collectively over many generations, allowed it to become an optional extra and as we have seen in recent days, anyone can trigger street activity if they choose to do so. So if you're arsed, do more. If you aren't, just don't complain. 

In such a short amount of time, I think this conversation has rather demonstrated the point better than I ever could.

A handful of people suggested ideas, volunteered to run events and offered support. Despite the expected negativity, personal attacks and attempts to derail the conversation, something productive actually came from it.

Let's not get carried away. A handful of people making an effort isn't a solution, but it's a start and I think SimonTheBastard put it best: "So if you're arsed, do more. If you aren't, just don't complain."

It turns out, it wasn't that complicated after all.

There once was a godfather named Matty, so fine,
He’s handsome and kind, frankly divine.
With charm by the fuckload and swagger for days,
I worship his shadow and sing him lots of praise.

He strolls with the crew like a king in his prime,
A legend, a hero, a ten out of nine.
His smile could cure sadness, his hugs stop a war,
My beautiful Matt, oh how I adore  

Oh Matty, my Matty, my glorious king,
I’d tattoo your name on my ten inch thing.
I’d cross every ocean, I’d climb every hill,
Just to tell you I love you and forever I will.

So raise up your glasses, laugh, sing, play,
For Matty’s the greatest man born in a day.
The greatest crew godfather, handsome and sweet,
I love you, dear Matty, from head to your feet!

SimonTheBastard 

This is seeming more and more like a cop out... 

"Ultimately, I feel the days of a leader having to have some sort of street presence have long since gone as we traded practicality over idealism, so it is disingenuous to pretend they hold a greater responsibility than anyone else."

That just means people are "allowing" leaders to not "lead." But what can members do if they can't shoot their lazy CLs? Not too much. Yap back? Get shot or more likely just ignored. Most people cannot criticize their leaders. It doesn't go well. Do other leaders even try to ensure other leaders are active? Just because something may have trended towards the norm does not mean it is a good thing. That's called decay. What you call practicality is laziness. Leaders lead. Leaders are supposed to be representative of people who actually try... They are directors in an organization. If they do not direct or engage, then people get bored. If they choose not to engage, then that means they're just wearing bold for themselves (and a clique usually). While events and etc may be hard or ill received, they've always been rough to get started, but they're not the most important thing. The most important thing is to get people talking, socializing, and living in this thing of ours. At the moment, I think very few have much of a narrative, and leaders are supposed to guide their people into just that. Really low standers, the lot in power. Those in power choose the standards. 

Also, just because someone disagrees with a silly position in a speech doesn't mean it's a personal attack. It just means that someone feels it's a bad position to grandstand on. A critique. 

"Based on 335" That is a bad sign fellas. 

Leading and street activity are not synonymous. You're trying to conflate two different things by substituting lead for speaking in the streets. Personally, I do not think most people care about the streets nor whether their leader is active there and they definitely aren't looking to be directed by them. I think many here left to their own devices, prioritize coffeeshop discourse with their existing friends, getting RATs, building their gun and a whole host of other activities, which are not conducive to the collective betterment of the whole, over speaking in the streets. That has not been a sudden switch in the last 14 or so months, it has been a gradual decline over years and years. I hear people brag about building at X rate, but never how many street speeches they made. And that is honestly fine, but you also can't level that criticism at the existing crop of leaders when street activity seems low because any person here can drive activity in the current environment and are choosing not to.

Simon, I agree. Leading and street activity are not synonymous, but street activity can be a factor in leading. 

Engagement, in general, is the job of a leader. Engagement comes in many forms. Engagement is really what's lacking. 

I also agree that it has not been a sudden switch, but my point is that it is a newer low. Too many placeholder CLs. Too many placeholder hands. Lack of engagement. It isn't your fault Simon, or Matty's. As a matter of fact, on your own, you both have put in more effort than most of the entire uppers. But at the same time, that sort of behavior shouldn't be enabled, and you have unfortunately enabled it. Ligambi near the end was an embarrassment in terms of his activity, among other things. My line gave him a deadline to step down if he wouldn't uphold certain standards within a few weeks, but fortunately for him I guess, everyone died. But outside of that, at least we kept other people above water. In the later days, my line made sure to whip the shit out of CLs or make them shift out lackluster hands, across all cities.

It's about creating and maintaining a standard. You guys (as a whole) have too many Ligambis. That said, it isn't something that you or Matty could fix singlehandedly. It's a collective effort and understanding that the point of ruling isn't solely to rule and maintain rule; it is to try to create something bigger than that, and a good portion of what I see (and hear) here are people chasing RATs, small purges, and coasting by on a downswing.

You and I can both brag about speeches. At least, they get people listening and talking.

Thank you for the dialogue. It's important.