WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

There was once a man who loved to deceive to get ahead in life. He said one thing and meant another, and led people people to the conclusion he wanted all along, making them think it was their idea. They wanted it, and he was providing it, so he wasn’t really the bad guy, was he?

The man had grown up living this double life, acting like a saviour but causing damage that would be felt for generations. He claimed to speak for the people, but the power had gone to his head, and he now pursued only those interests which served him directly.

People used to look up to him, when he was an up-and-comer. They thought he was a breath of fresh air on the scene, but the same things that corrupt everyone else eventually got to him, and he no longer shared the same values with those he had run with before.

Now he was a renegade, a vigilante.

Now he stood for nobody but himself.

I have but one question for you here. Who is it I’m talking about, Anonymous?

I’ve no doubt you would hear those words and think I’m finally owning up to being this monster you think I am, but I hear those words and think of you.

You deceive those around you to get ahead, and use your influence to encourage weak-minded people to join your cause. You make them think that what you are doing is what they want, but all they want is somewhere to rebel. They support the cause, not the outcome. You’ve lived a double life behind that cursed mask of yours, which only highlights your duplicity in your accusations against me.

You say that you speak for the people, but you do not believe in democracy. You may not have left enough evidence for me to pin it on you, but we all know that you altered votes at the election. I lost because you took away the voice of the American people and replaced it with your own. That is not what speaking for the people means, Anonymous, that is speaking instead of the people. And this whole…charade? It is to get back at me on a personal level. Your petty interests don’t align with what everyone else wants or needs, just your own selfish desires.

I’m sure people used to look up to you, Anonymous. Whoever is behind that mask, I’m sure you were revered once, but look at you now. No longer a breath of fresh air on the scene but a reminder that the winds of change are needed. The cobwebs of corruption waiting for that gust to take them away for good. I will be that gust, clearing the cobwebs of your corruption from the world.

Those who once ran with you will instead become my running mates, as they see you for what you really are. The mask hides a villain and a coward, greed and envy. I’ll expose you to the world for being exactly what you say you hate about me.

Because really, Anonymous, what’s the difference?