NR - Principality or Not?

[Chris Backus]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Pug Bainter" <pug at pug.net>
To: <northern at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2000 6:41 AM
Subject: Re: NR - Principality or Not?


> Chris Backus (cbackus at peakonline.com) said something that sounded
like:
> > I was distressed that this Principality thread, which I am very
> > interested in, prompted some personal attacks.
>
> Just my two cents on that problem.
>
> The choice to create a Principality or not is not an intelligent nor
> logical decision to be made most of the time. It is an emotional and
> personal one. This means that people's egos and feelings are often
> involved in the discussion despite their best efforts not to. This
means
> that people feel very much personally threatened when people start
> shooting down their ideas no matter which way their decision is.

I agree with you about the cause, but we are should all attempt to
keep courtesy in the forefront of our minds.  For those who desire a
move toward a Principality, please remember that a perception of
infighting will be viewed as a major reason not to become a
Principality and is probably our single biggest obstacle right now.
If you love the idea, be courteous if for no other reason.

> For those who don't know, the Southern Region had these same
discussions
> a little over a year ago or so. We had the same types of discussions
> on-line as you have so far, including any ugliness. We had a lot of
> discussions off-line that never did get ugly. (Probably because
email is
> a lot less expressive than face to face.) Our decision was that we
> weren't ready for it yet for many different reasons.

What were the essential arguments in your case?  What area were you
considering for the Principality?

>
> I hope that everyone can be as productive as we were in these
> discussions and come out of it as friends no matter what the final
> decision is. That is the hard part in this. Worry about the
important
> things in life. The decision to become a Principality or not will
matter
> to anyone in 25 years nor anyone outside of the SCA now.

I think it will matter, if only to our game.  In 25 years, this
decision may decide what the Knowne World map looks like.  Kingdoms
play differently, too, as you know from your travels.  What game is
played depends on what Kingdom you live in, so this decision may
affect nearly everything about our hobby over the long run.  It's not
important in the grand scheme, but nothing except people is important
in the grand scheme in my mind.

There may not be equal opportunity to become a Principality at all
times in the future.  If the Southern regions are discussing a
Principality we should face the fact that there may only be the need
for one in the forseeable future.  We need to take that into account.
I'm not saying we have to hurry, that would seem the best way to screw
up.  If we want a Principality, though, there may be a time frame we
must work within (some number of years), else we lose our opportunity.

>
> Relax and enjoy this game we call the SCA.

Perhaps relax enough to continue to have fun, but relaxation is not
all there is to the SCA.  Every person in the SCA has to give up a
little bit of rest or relaxation in order for the game to run.  Some
people give up a lot of time, you are called Pelicans, aren't you?  I
definitely don't mean for this argument to be so important that it
ruins eveyone's fun, but just the discussion (minus any vicious bits)
is fun for some and the work to create a Principality would be fun to
some.  There are as many kinds of enjoyment to be had in the SCA as
there are players.

>
> Ciao,
>
> --
> Phelim "Pug" Gervase   | "I want to be called. COTTONTIPS. There is
something
> Bryn Gwlad - Ansteorra |  graceful about that lady. A young woman
bursting with
> Dark Horde Moritu      |  vigor. She blinked at the sudden light.
She writes
> pug at pug.net            |  beautiful poems. When ever shall we meet
again?"
>   Note: The views do not reflect the SCA nor the Kingdom of
Ansteorra.


Thanks for your input.  I'm curious about the Southern interest in a
Principality.

Hawkins


============================================================================
Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.