ANST - You know what's coming

[Keith Hood]

Got back from practice, fired up the Boatanchortech 486, and oh BOY I 
hope I have enough coffee to finish this.  For the sake of efficiency 
I'll have to answer a whole bunch of people in one post.  I'm sure 
everybody will recognise the parts that are relevant to them...

First, I'll admit that I've seen enough comments to convince me that a 
2-year tenure is not a valid solution.  But I still contest some other 
things.  (If it's so horrible, why do so many people want it?)

I didn't say I was worried about where I play causing bad reactions from 
other people.  If I were, would I be doing this?  I never play for 
anything but fun.  But let's face it, as you said, human nature gets in 
the way, and there are people whose time in the SCA would be more 
difficult if other people don't like their choice of which events to 
attend.  People do tend to try to influence each other to maintain group 
loyalties.  Introducing more boundaries would tend to polarize people 
even more.

Yes, there is an official provision for the regular redistribution of 
executive power--every four years, not every six months.

Turnover rate in the military:  I spent six years as an Armor officer.  
All your comments are correct--and every officer on duty will still tell 
you that personnel turbulence at all levels does cause all kinds of 
problems, whatever the cause.  I spoke of a peacetime training situation, 
which is what we essentially have in the SCA.  (With horrified grin->) If 
the effect of wearing the crown is comparable to combat fatigue, then 
there is something really bad wrong here that goes way beyond the 
principality issue.

(While laughing->) If I remember right I saw a call for an e-mail 
campaign to vote on this issue, to count pros and cons.  The person who 
offered to run the mail box and tally the replies was someone who had 
publicly spoken in favor of principalities.  Awful nice of the Tories to 
offer to count the Whigs' votes...

This last round of postings has revealed a clash in the pro-principality 
arguments.  People have argued that doing principalities would be a great 
thing because it would make life much easier for everyone by reducing the 
work of managing the organization.  There are also arguments that it 
would be a great thing because it would allow both resulting groups to 
grow--so they can grow right back up to having the same crushing problems 
as now?  If both of the growth argument is correct, then the result in 
short order will be two organizations and two sets of officers breaking 
under the strain.  I fail to see this as an improvement.

Smaller groups are not inherently healthier.  The state of the group, 
whatever its size, depends on the actions, manners, and ethics of the 
people in it.  A large organization can be wonderful if the people in it 
do right.  A small organization can be a nightmare if the people in it do 
not.  A smaller group recently freed from its parent group may be more 
enthusiastic, and that may make it look more attractive at first, but its 
ability to hold people (both old and new) will still depend on its 
current members' convincing people that SCA membership is worth having, 
and size is no guarantee there.

I have read that the principalities would still be a part of Ansteorra, 
that they would be a kind of a regional managment level for the crown, 
and that would solve many problems.  Back to the inconsistencies again:  
If the principalities are part of Ansteorra, then they have not split 
from the parent group, and if they have not then where are the alleged 
growth opportunies?  Are they going to grow by overlapping into each 
others' territories?

Some argue that people would feel a natural loyalty to and support of a 
principality that's not possible for a region because a region is not a 
normal SCA political entity.  It is perfectly possible to be loyal to, 
and to support, an organization that is not an officially recognized 
management level of a larger structure.  If it were not possiblee, the 
SCA itself could not exist--at what officially defined level of American 
society or government do we fit?

I know this isn't everything but your eyes probably hurt and my fingers 
certainly do.  Let's get some sleep and pick it up in the morning, like 
the Sam and Ralph cartoons.

-- 
A long bow and a strong bow,
And let the sky grow dark.
The nock to the cord, the shaft to the ear,
And a foreign king for a mark!

	-- Stolen from "The Song of the Bosonian Archers" --
		 by Robert Howard, who should be
		  the patron saint of Ansteorra
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