ANST - P-word

[Martin, Brian]

Two year reigns? Although I have never been king, I can assure you 
that the current six month reigns are enough to exhaust the Crown, 
(physically and emotionally), and Their pocket books!

Pendaran

----------
From: 	Keith Hood[SMTP:jemuga at freewwweb.com]
Sent: 	Tuesday, February 17, 1998 12:41 PM
To: 	ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
Subject: 	Re: ANST - P-word

>From Tomonaga:

I've heard people talking about splitting this kingdom into
principalities for years.  If only for the sake of balanced
consideration I present these thoughts:

Everybody in favor of principalities always mentions all kinds of
problems that are supposedly caused by the size of the kingdom.  Why 
is
it nobody ever mentions any kind of efforts to find ways around those
problems without dividing the kingdom?

How about extending the tenure of kings and queens to two years? 
 They
would still have to make the rounds of the kingdom, but only once in
their tenure.  That would have **all kinds** of benefits.  An easier
travel schedule for the royalty, with the travel costs spread over a
longer period.  Less physical stress for them and anyone who helps 
them
get ready and/or get around.  Crown tournament and the champions'
tournaments would only be put on every other year, which would be a
great saving of time, effort and money for anyone involved.  It would
help ease the competition for decent event dates and sites.  Business
involving royalty could be conducted at a more leisurely pace--more
mailings to and from, and fewer long-distance phone calls.  Kingdom 
law
changes would get more time for consideration because there would be
less pressure to get things done before the next crown tourney.  And 
I'm
pretty sure there are some people out there who would like the idea 
of
holding positions for two years running.  It would cause an easing of
scheduling, financing, logistical, and mental pressures all around.

I think the one-year tenure for royalty is one of the main root 
causes
of the problems that the pro-principality folks always mention. 
 Anyone
who has ever had a job that involves supervising others knows good 
and
well that a high personnel turnover rate is a guaranteed cause of
expense, friction and ineffeciency.  It works that way in the 
military,
at IBM, at McDonalds...anywhere you can think of.  Ease off the 
turnover
rate of royalty, and a lot of the problems that drive the push toward
principalities will solve themselves.

Nobody every mentions trying a compromise course of action.  There 
must
be all kinds ways of dealing with this kingdom's problems without
busting it like a wishbone.  Why not try some other solutions first?
Give them a shot for a year or two--if they are actually proven to 
fall
short of needs, then it would be sensible to talk principalities.

Whatever the supposed advantages of dividing this kingdom, obviously 
the
regular people of this kingdom still have little or nothing to gain 
from
it.  For someone who wants to go to Steppes Warlord, the distance 
from
Victoria is still the same.  The people who man the troll booth and 
make
the banners for the tournaments still have only so much money and 
still
have to get around their mundane work schedules.  The people who run 
the
campgrounds where the annual fall events are done will not drop their
prices because Ansteorra is divided.  Etc., etc., etc.

And how can it benefit this kingdom's standing with other kingdoms to
make it smaller and weaker?  Aren't we already badly outnumbered at 
Gulf
War without cutting down the size of the recruit pool?

And new boundaries give people a new set of problems in dealing with
other people:  can you still go to tournament X without falling out 
of
favor with people at home?  Are the old friends you used to fight 
beside
at war now your enemies?  There must be ways of dealing with the
problems without taking measures that may strain and even sunder
relationships that may have formed over years.
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