[ANSTHRLD] Zodiacus weighs in on this week's award discussions

[Amanda Bowen]

>Alden wrote:
> > Any and all awards, be they existing, or made up on the spot, are
> > completely within the authority of the Crown to give as they please.
> > Of course it is a good idea for the Crown to consult with Their
> > heralds, but I don't think it's a requirement.
>
>And then Robin wrote:
>Nobody denies that.  Nobody has suggested that the Crown didn't have the 
>right to do this.  However, actions have consequences, and it is the 
>responsibility of the heralds to consider the consequences of heraldic 
>actions.  That's what we're doing.<

I realize that I may be acting presumptuous here, but I would say also that 
it is the responsibility of the Crown to consider the consequences (heraldic 
and otherwise) of their actions. The more awards a kingdom has, the less 
each individual award means. Ansteorra's award structure is so large I would 
bet good money that if you went up to Joe Random Ansteorran with a list of 
awards, he wouldn't be able to tell you what all - or even half - of them 
were for. That should be a good indicator right there.

The purpose of awards is not to create a recognition for every art, every 
science, every marital activity, every service, every whatever. The purpose 
of awards is not to make sure that everyone who shows up has at least 
something shiny to hang around their neck. The purpose of awards is to 
recognize those who have done something out of the ordinary. A kingdom 
doesn't need even as many awards as we have to accomplish that task.

Galienne de Bayonne

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