You end your rant with "learn about the people around you". That statement is preceded by false assumptions on your part. So you contradict your own argument.
Our cities are nowhere near each other so I don't know why you would have heard of me before. I have been here since the beginning as well and had never heard you before either. Through the life cycle of this world we will likely never encounter each other in game. The only way we likely have ever engaged each other is by proxy. I generally talk to the players I engage and there has only been a small number that I didn't get along with, the only unreasonable player I have ever encountered was from your alliance (jr). This is a war game and alliances start out determined by positioning, so I see no reason to assume anything about any of the other players in the world. As you point out we have taken in members that were never near us before. We take in like minded, skilled players who enjoy the game and plan to win it. You say our alliance is made up of people afraid to take us on, when it is made of of people with a common goal who have shown the skill, reliability and drive to win this game.
You go on to insinuate other players poor hundreds of dollars into this game and have no real life outside of it. I don't know how or why anyone would put money like that into this game. Those assumptions couldn't be more wrong about the vast majority of people I have come across in this game, let alone in my alliance. You could garner that information if you took time to "learn about people around you".
Every alliance has had hardships. We have been at war with one alliance or another (often multiple alliances) since the start of this world. Our leadership has changed and like everyone else we have had to deal with attrition. But the strength of The Union is the membership. Our steady progress relies on strong individual members united by our goals and the bonds we have formed. Players come and go but our alliance remains strong because of its foundation.