ANSTHRLD - Re: Anti-anti-oppressor rant (was Galen's Augmentation)

[tmcd at jump.net]

I got the open suitcases out of the living room, so I'll reward myself
with an off-topic rant.  Possible snork/nork/snarf/splort warning part
way thru.

On Fri, 21 Jan 2000, Amanda Lewanski <editor at texas.net> wrote:
> Old monarchists that Jan and I are, we always thought the Crown
> should be able to

I am both anti-monarchical and anti-SCA Inc.


As for Crowns: Butthead Rex and Mrs. Butthead have reigned too many
times.

Further, too many people chant "The Crown's Word Is Law!" when that
was a minority opinion in the Middle Ages and only became strong in
the Baroque.  Any proper medieval king knew that there were good
customs that the king should not touch, and every person had rights
and privileges according to their estate and their degree and their
history, and the king should not touch those rights either.

When it comes to heraldry, a lot of Crowns can't find a tincture with
both hands and a Crayola Classic marker.  Now that alone would be fine
-- why the hell *should* they know about heraldry in particular, or
any other art? -- if they simply realized it and simply asked.  Often,
they don't.  They devise this *magical* order name, or badge, or
augmentation of arms, and it leaves people with heraldic clues moaning
in the streets.


As for the Board: Every ten years or so, when their planet is in
inferior conjunction, aliens from the Planet Cluefucked come to Earth
and suck out the Board of Directors' brains, leaving mind-controlled
gibbering idiots in charge of SCA Inc.  Because of the governing
structure that would be crude in a colony of cherrystone clams, to wit
a self-electing non-removable Board, it takes mobs with pitchforks to
get the bums out and get a few sensible humans in.  The last
conjunction was 1994.  Start pricing pitchforks, folks.

Futher, too many people chant "Support the Society!", not
distinguishing society (a set of people) and SCA Inc. (a California
corp.), not realizing that supporting the Corp. may do squat for
benefitting the poor bloody ground-pounders, and not realizing that we
could do very well without the Corp. but there would be no Society
without society.


So I am both anti-monarchical and anti-SCA Inc.  All power to the
people's communes!  (Yes, republican communes are quite period:
Italy!)  Expropriate the expropriators!  Down with the tyrants, all
... what, 25 or so?

So in some debates I brandish the power of the Corp. to humble Crowns.
In other debates I exalt the Crowns to rein in The Whore Of
Babylon-By-The-Bay.  I tap-dance quickly and hope to God my sundry
opponents never compare notes and shoot me down with my own
ammunition.

I think much the same thing happened in Catholic Europe in period.
Early bishops were powerful, but had troubles with kings.  Sometimes
they exalted papal power to resist.  Then popes got stronger, and
bishops leaned on royal power to resist.  What happened is that the
prince and the Pope made a deal and castrated the bishops, or the
prince won and castrated them, or the Pope won and castrated them.
Modern Catholic bishops can't sneeze without a papal bull of
authorization, and thinking about the medieval custom of electing
them is practically a mortal sin.

That's enough off-topic ranting.  Sorry.  I'll go scrub the sink now.

Daniel "kiss my little mitre" de Lincolia
-- 
Tim McDaniel (home); Reply-To: tmcd at jump.net; 
if that fail, my work address is tmcd at us.ibm.com.

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