[Ansteorra] What's happening here?

[James Crouchet]

What indeed?

The SCA is stronger than it has ever been. It offers a far richer
experience than in the past and an amazing variety of activities. As a
whole the politics are much calmer and more polite, though there are
always small areas that are the exception. The bureaucracy is deeper,
true, but that seems inevitable in a large organization; the only ones I
have seen avoid that are structured as a collection of small organizations.

The rest of what you describe are just the bumps and burrs of a social
organization and they have been around much longer than the SCA. If you
can look at it with a historian's eye you will see that most of these
behaviors are the same as they were in the periods we study, including
having people tell us how everything is falling apart and longing for
The Good Old Days.

If you feel strongly about the wrongs you see, take on those tasks and
strive to show the people around you a better example of how to play in
the SCA.

Christian Doré

Lisa wrote:
> What's happening to the SCA?  We have Authenticity Police, but there'll
> always be a few of those.  There aren't enough to scare newbies about them
> on a regular basis.  Yes, authenticity is nice, but it's not something that
> everyone aspires to.  If you're in the SCA for the cookies, then yes you'll
> want to be more authentic in your costume as well as everything else, but
> that's not everyone's desire.  I'm seeing people telling others how they
> should think, dress, act, and what they should do.  I'm seeing groups torn
> apart because a choice was made that was not the one everyone wanted.  I'm
> seeing people hurting long time friends because of misunderstandings and
> unintended slights.  I'm seeing fits thrown over stuff that COULD cause a
> problem if someone wanted to push it, but are things that have always been
> done and until now have not caused offense.  I'm seeing politics out the
> ass, people arguing over stupid stuff and people asking for help being
> either blown off or overridden.  When did the SCA become a job, a political
> arena, a lawsuit, or a battleground?  I joined the SCA to have fun and learn
> about an area/aspect of history I had an interest in.  The SCA is no longer
> fun.  I was recently asked why Ren Faires are getting more publicity and
> activity
> than the SCA.... Look at the lists lately.... you'll see why.
>
> Grow up people and act like the adults you claim to be!
>
> Elizabeta of Rundel
>
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