Growth

At the GNU Public Dictatorship we are nothing if not glad to see our "New Supporters Today" counter consistently higher than it has been, and we know it will continue to increase as time goes on.  As Jason Herrera of Madison, Wisconsin, pointed out, however, even a growth of 500 new supporters daily would take 5,479 1/2 years to create 1 billion new supporters.  According to Jason (who appears genuinely concerned) this is going to take too long, and he fears he will be dead by the time the New Future is inaugurated.

The good news for Jason is that we, the GNU Public Dictatorship's Board of Dictators, do not need a majority of world citizens to be our supporters, nor do we need a plurality of world citizens.  One of the advantages of being a Board of Dictators is that we can rule without requiring that all of our subjects accept us as the best option.  What we do need is to be able to grow faster than our rivals.  Fifteen years ago, the Company was adding 400 or 500 supporters every day, depending on which estimates you believe.  We have, as you all know, crushed the Company only to find it was part of a Parent Corporation.  We have recently reduced the Parent Corporation to a mere shadow of what it was, and even the Unholy Brotherhood of the Hole Punch is on a negative growth trajectory.  Our only real adversaries at the moment are the New Company, and, according to our best estimates, they are adding about 500 new employees daily.  In order to usher in the New Future we need not reach billions of supporters, we simply need to outgrow our adversaries.

While we were able to defeat the Company and the Parent Corporation while growing at a slower rate than they did, we believe that our greater efficiency and clearer message have helped us significantly.  All our information about the New Company indicates that they are more efficient and have a more developed message than their predecessors, so we don't think overcoming them will happen as quickly.  We have been trying to slow economic growth around the world to stunt the growth of the New Company, and while it has been working it also seems to be causing other problems, so we will be abandoning that methodology.  Our recent growth, however, stems largely from word-of-mouth from our supporters, for which we thank you!  If we can keep our own growth up, we won't have to ruin your economies!