Thoughts and Questions

[Lenny Zimmermann]

On Tue, 24 Sep 96 17:00:00 EDT, Galen wrote:

[snip]
>But I don't see this sort of popular movement, nor do I see what looks to me 
>like anyone trying to start one. 

Must be a regional thing, I've certainly heard the issue discussed
here before and it seems to be considered fairly favorably among the
general poulace.

[snip]
>But it seems to have sprung full-grown from someone's forehead.  Whose? 
> What process leads to the Kingdom Seneschal calling the Barons and putting 
>a note in _Black Star_?  The Crown wants our input.  What prompted that? 
> They haven't asked for our input on whether we should merge with Meridies, 
>presumably because no one proposed it.  Who wants this?  And who is it that, 
>wanting this, instead of bringing it up for discussion here, followed a 
>course that led directly, with minimal rumor leakage, directly to notices in 
>_Black Star_ and Barons kingdom-wide bringing the issue up?  And why?  Why 
>principalities, and why this way?

My understanding of this situation is that the Principality issue has
been "floating" around for at least 5 years. I certainly heard of it
before the calls to the groups about it and I've only been in the SCA
for a year. (Maybe it's a Bjornsborg thing.) If you absolutely have to
assume that a single individual (and I really don't believe a single
individual brought this up without hearing some grumbling) then feel
free to assume it was me. I'm as good a person as any to "blame" if
that is what you are looking to do even though I have only met TRM
once, in passing, and the subject never came up. Truthfully I think
who brought it up and why is irrelevant. What is relevant is that
those who are paying members discuss the issue and "vote" by writing
to the Crown with their opinion.

If you want reasons, I think we have seen quite a few here already, on
both sides of the argument. The best reason I can think of is to
really get a Kingdom wide, involved, discussion of the issue that
would include all of the Kingdom, not just those few of us with Net
access. Why does is matter WHO brought this up? Couldn't a Crown or
Seneschal just bring it up for discussion because they had heard some
talk of things like this in passing? Is that such a bad thing? It's
not like anyone has said "We will now have Principalities and there
will be no discussion about it! We are just doing it, so there!"
Nobody I have seen has said that, although a few people have almost
assumed that to be the case.

>We've given this a fair hearing, and a reasonable discussion of pros and 
>cons.  I think we're entitled to know how this issue came to be at the 
>center of our public discourse.  We've discussed the merits of the idea 
>independent of the question of whose idea it is.  I believe we have reached 
>the point where it is relevant to know who brought up this issue initially, 
>and for what purpose.

> - Galen of Bristol,
>who's not sure why he cares about this...

Well, if you could answer that I know I'd appreciate knowing why you
feel it is so important. There were issues brought up about
Principalities I had never thought of before, any answers to this
question would be appreciated as well. For now, though, I don't see
where who brought it up is relevant to the heart of the issue.

Honos Servio,
Lionardo Acquistapace
(Lenny Zimmermann)
zarlor at acm.org