+ AA6YQ comments below

Competition is optional. Some enjoy it, some don't. A few talented and dligent individuals do well, most don't. Some find it stimulating and fun, rising to the challenge, whereas some find it discouraging, disheartening and even aggravating. Some take the competition seriously and a few seem to believe it's OK to win at all costs ... but while pushing boundaries and perhaps bending rules to exploit every viable opportunity for advancement is part of the game at the highest levels, most competitors draw the line short of blatant rule-breaking/cheating and other unsportsman-like conduct.

That paragraph applies to virtually ANY sport or competitive activity. Amateur radio is no different. Spencer, Darwin and other scientists explained the basis of our natural urge to out-do each other very well back in the nineteenth century. 'Survival of the fittest' is not about bulging biceps, but adapting and coping with circumstances better than other individuals, 'succeeding' by proliferating in the long run. Even SARS-CoV-2, the COVID virus, is competing and evolving - and that's essentially just a tiny ~30 kilobase strand of RNA, about as lean and mean as can be.

In that light, persuading ARRL to change the rules of DXCC is just another potential strategy for some participants, while for some others, persuading ARRL not to change the DXCC rules is their strategy. Which will succeed?

+ Once again, well said Gary.

+ Competition is absolutely optional. So is the use of (legal) QRO, the use of (within your entity) remote stations, and the use of a transceiver that you didn't design and construct yourself with parts refined from raw materials that you dug up in your back yard.

+ What should not be optional is the freedom from criticism of one's choices. Every operator should be able to decide how he or she will participate in the DXCC award program, so long as the obey their country's amateur radio regulations and obey the ARRL's rules governing DXCC. The growing tendency for some operators to criticize anyone who doesn't "do it their way" is a disgusting plague on amateur radio, driving away good operators while attracting the worst.

+ As for removing "currently inaccessible" entities from the DXCC list, doing so would eliminate a fundamental characteristic of DXCC that has been present since inception: THERE IS NO GUARANTEE OF SUCCESS. DXers pursuing DXCC do so with the knowledge that their accumulated skill and experienced will not be sufficient to reach the Top of the Honor Roll - but they pursue it anyway. Cass WA6AUD called them "true blue DXers" for a reason. Encouraging this level of determination is important.

+ I reached the Top of the Mixed and SSB Honor Rolls in 2008, need only P5 in CW, and need only 4 entities in Digital. I'm going to continue trying to work those 5 remaining entity-modes no matter what changes are made to DXCC.

+ And one more thing: I hate seeing whiners get their way. It encourages more whining, which is the last thing we need.

73,

Dave, AA6YQ