ANST - Principality petitions/seccession war

[Keith Hood]

Corpora requires that there be a concensus before a principality can be
made.  But what keeps happening is someone comes up and says "A bunch of
us have been talking about this for a long time and we know we've got a
lot of support, so let's go ahead and do it."  Principality supporters
always seem to want to jump straight to the petition-the-BoD stage
without even setting the type for ballots, much less waiting for the ink
to dry.

Sooner or later this issue will have to be truly *settled* once and for
all.  The only way to make it work--not to have it cheerfully accepted
but to make it at least stick--is to make the results plain enough that
there can be no more argument over what is really the will of the
majority.  In order to finally resolve this issue, there must be an
official, publicly known, properly run ballot.  It must be done in such
a manner that the results are verifiable and the vote counting clearly
correct.

Actually, I would prefer to settle it in proper 10th century
fashion--trial by combat.  Hold the Ansteorran Seccession War.  Pick a
time far enough in the future that people can get ready, get a site more
or less in the middle to equalize travel requirements, have the
adherents both pro and con armor up on opposite sides of the field, and
let God defend the right.  Like with campaign funds in Presidential
elections, open the coffers to help defray fighters' travel expenses. 
Forbid mercenaries--this is nobody else's business.

Obviously, those who show up in the opposing arrays vote with their
presence, but how would you allow for the opinions of those who can't
fight for some reason?  We could set things up like the Gulf War, where
the noncombatants have some way in expressing their opinions to win war
points for their side.

Some people talk about wanting to do principalities because forming them
would be something new, something fun . . . Well, this would be
something unique in Ansteorran history; maybe SCA history.  Publicize it
properly, and people will come from all over the known world to watch
(and drop their money).  It would be a truly once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity for theatrical flair.

-- 
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 E. Howard, who should be		    
		       the patron saint of Ansteorra
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