[Ansteorra] Courtesy challenge

[Klfrench1023 at aol.com]

>As for the Dream as it used to be, but I believe the "Machiavellian  
>attitudes, back-stabbing politics, and endless  grasping for  personal gain" 
>have been a part of the Current Middle Ages far longer  than the more than 
>quarter century I've been aware of, and the two  decades I've been a member 
>of the Society.

Indeed they were around, as was I.  I suggested nothing fallacious or  
dichotomous.  Nor did I suggest that these attitudes were mutually  exclusive of 
each other in the SCA of old.  I simply stated that it would  be more ennobling 
to re-enact the principals of  Chivalry, Courtesy, and Honor rather than the 
alternative, and that I  remember, in my quarter century of play, that there 
were more  gentles pursuing the Dream for its own sake.   It is certainly  
possible to be political and/or powerful without being cruel or  self-serving.  
Politics and Power have been with us from the dawn of  time.  It is not a question 
of whether or not it is  period.  There have always been those who grasp for 
power and acclaim  with a variety of motivations, and with good or ill intent. 
 Courtesy and  respect could be freely given or found at the point of a 
sword.  Of  course Machiavellian attitudes are period.  But is this  really 
relevant to our game?  I'm sure that there are numerous aspects of  medieval life 
that none would wish to recreate.  I find enough ugliness in  the everyday world 
that I have my fill of it.  I do not choose to  bring it into my game.  
 
I have no quarrel with you, sir, nor do I have desire for such.
 
Caterina