Emmanuel G Escobar
Short History of the World, but for millennials
Updated: Jan 6
This is a story of fiction based loosely around the events in modern history. It’s written to outline the conflicts of the world through disagreement of different powers, but whose resolutions have brought us global peace, at least for now. Reader discretion is advised.
Once upon a time there was a group of students auditioning to be part of a big band. But the big band musicians didn’t want new students to participate who are are not appropriately trained to be involved in large ensembles and shunned them all, much to the disapproval of the aspiring musicians.
The students protested against the actions of the big band musicians and formed a group against these malicious individuals, which they referred to as ‘abusive musicians’. The aspiring student musicians went on to gain support from other anti-abusive musician student groups and formed the Student Coalition Against Abusive Musicians or SCAAM.
The SCAAM grew in popularity as the problem was widespread because established musicians held onto their posts with pride and refused to accept anyone who did not demonstrate the virtue for performance that had been often passed down for several generations. Upon receiving more support from student bodies, the organisers of the SCAAM were invited to a talk show host to present their ideology.
During the interview, which was live streamed, the host, Mr. Pryce as an attempt to undermine the importance of the student coalition, said that they should also consider that a group could also exist, which he would call Students Can Also Abuse Musicians Endangering Recreational Services. Mr. Pryce joked that such a group would would be referred to as SCAAMERS. And that the organisers of the SCAAM were not considering that within their own group, they would be those who were sabotaging music for those who practiced it.
Broadcast of this show led to several students to not agree to be labelled as ‘anti-musician abuse protesters’, simply because they were students and musicians or aspiring musicians. They didn’t want to be associated with the SCAAM or any mention to be incorrectly labelled as SCAAMERS. These students however believed in the importance of perceived snobbery in music, to ensure that the right people who could keep to the correct tempo would be able to play and not interfere with any progress made in big bands.
These students formed the Abusive Student Musicians or the ASM, to stand up against the unjust usage of ‘abusive’ when referring to actions taken to protect the integrity and standards of music. They found the terminology to be too indiscreet and discriminatory against those who believed in professional music for trained musicians. This moment went on to be recognised by senior musicians who were not students, and stood against the similar use of ‘abusive’ when the quality of the player in question had not been established. They went on to form the Organised Rebel Group of Abusive Musicians, or the ORGASM, as a senior and more mature body of the ASM. The ORGASM would lead me he fight against the SCAAM. Conflict began as the SCAAM started to suggest the ORGASM didn’t exist as a recognised entity because it was built too quickly and did not capture the essence of what SCAAM set out to do. Over the next months the conflict grew, and the movement called onto a group of neutral individuals who protected anyone who fell imprisoned by either side trying to make their point.
These neutral individuals set up an independent party that was self governed without input from any other entity but was tasked to listen to the demands of all parties involved the in the ORGASM-SCAAM conflict. They called their united group the Consortium for the Liberation of Imprisoned Musical Advocates from Xenogenesis, or CLIMAX for simplicity.
They were largely successful in the downfall of the ORGASM, and SCAAM was satisfied but recognised that their adversaries had equal rights in representing their identity as equal as other groups had started before. The CLIMAX continued to appear anytime that the ORGASM was active, and even some ORGASM members defected to the other side while others went went into the neutral state. This caused trouble within the CLIMAX and eventually resulted in dysfunction from within.
Eventually the CLIMAX broke down as a group after a series of events that brought down the original ORGASM and SCAAM groups. A new power had erected, made up from past members of the ORGASM.
Support from a key set of individuals working to revitalise the power of the younger feelings, they went on to form the Entertainer Division Giving Instrumentalists National Governance popularly known as the EDGING. This movement brought tension to the local area but also aroused the attention of distant forces which sought to suppress the actions that were beginning again to resemble the ORGASM. However, following the break up of previous pacts and committees, the attention turned all out to protect musicians worldwide from false prejudice brought on by a growing power of self-invoked stimulation of the masses and submission, led by unforgiving masters of domination.
The opposite powers formed an alliance to protect the interests of the distant entertainers from powerful tyrants that were forbidding the process by which musicians expressed themselves in the local areas that were under the control of the EDGING. This group was officially formed following recognition as a superpower, which encompassed the constitutional rights of all entertainers following a decree of national importance. The CONTRACEPTION, also known as the Confederation Of National Trust Respect and Action Covering the Engagement of Powerful Tyrants Inciting Organised Nationalism, started to stop the actions of the EDGING, as well as set up a foreign policy to suppress any kind of unplanned entry into other territories using whatever means possible. However, the methods at which this was accomplished were not by any means standardised and individual subgroups became to form offering their own solutions to the growing problem around the areas affected the by EDGING. Likewise, some saw that suppression of expression and exclamation of musicians was having adverse effects on the acceptance of music from young students, who were not following through the agreements of the CONTRACEPTION, and began to operate on their own accord without any backing from an organisation or standards for practicing music. This also led to a decrease in numbers of musicians that were registering as official entertainers and began forming their own secret alliances with underground groups.
Another group was formed to present these musicians, as a form to liberate them while offering protection without compromising on their ability to rightfully express and feel the passion of the music they wished to pursue. The Liberation Army of Musicians Building on Sense Kits to Inspire New Students, known simply as the LAMBSKINS grew to form a committee that attracted several individuals to take part in their new scheme to promote an alternative to the CONTRACEPTION rules. They offered protection, flexibility and yet retained some of the pleasure of practicing music that other groups had previously suppressed. However, the CONTRACEPTION gained greater influence through many channels since it considered the needs and desires of several musicians as well as offered permanent services, long term solutions and left musicians to pick a plan of freedom and safety that was best for them. The EDGING grow more powerful, but it would slowly be the cause of its own collapse. Tirelessly it continued to stimulate a region that was already on the brink of explosion from constant movement of forces around the local and surrounding areas. The stress and pressure caused internal factions to break down and the effects blew up on the realisation that the ORGASM had been reactivated and this had led to CLIMAX to also reactivate to stand up against imprisonments and issued the immediate release of those held within the areas controlled by the EDGING.
The CONTRACEPTION took part to pick up the mess that had been spilt, but some of those that were with the LAMBSKINS found out that the strategies that were promised were not as effective. These two groups continued to argue for the best method. To avoid all possible conflict in future, an international and universal consortium called the CONDOM was formed. This group, otherwise know as the Community of Orchestrated National Delegates Overseeing Musicians employed measurable control standards and diversity of engagement across all scenarios, which was set up to lead the notions set prior by both the LAMBSKINS and the CONTRACEPTION. They also recognised some of the aspects that had been done during the EDGING, and helped to create a safe environment, which depended on building trust and communication between different parties. The CLIMAX was not reinstated but offered to monitor the release of forces so long the values of the CONDOM were being protected.
Thanks to the CONDOM there is an international campaign that is well orchestrated to protected the rights of musicians while leading flexibility to following through the correct course of action based on a risk assessment to be performed by participating musicians. Any conflict of these terms are sought to be protected by the international campaign, which self monitors its codes of operation. Safe to say that musicians have come together to lead safer lives and continue to entertain many others while minimising risks of conflict and spread of information that would put any other individual at risk.