SC - Inconsistant statements

[LrdRas at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/19/99 5:15:17 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
oftraquair at hotmail.com writes:

<< If a statement is not consistent with the
 >conditions for which the statement applies, we either need to rethink
 >the statement (and what would be the fun of that???) >>

Sometimes we need to rethink our position in certain matters. For instance in 
the recent discussion which my friend Puck and I engaged in leads to many 
areas where rethinking is advisable. My statement regarding Venice, for 
example, should have indicated that it's power as a trade center, although 
substantial during a good portion of the middle ages and Renaissance, did in 
fact rise and fall several times and was not a constant power factor 
throughout the entire middle ages although it did maintain it's importance in 
general until the age of exploration began. 

I also took a position which indicated that the Hanse power circle was of 
little significance which is far from the case since the goods they provided 
in exchange for outside goods was substantial in the area of furs and salt to 
name 2. 

Oftentimes a persons exuberance leads them to view a thing from a perspective 
which is far too narrow. For instance, while the position of the middle east 
regarding trade routes was certainly significant and important, it also 
lacked goods for which it traded things. The powers that provided those items 
to the middle east were not unimportant in their bargaining power concerning 
the goods they had to offer in exchange for silks or spices.

I also used the word 'barbarian' in a fashion which could have been 
interpreted as racially denigrating when I meant it as a term to indicate a 
people who were marked by a lack of restraint and sophistication.

Sometimes our enthusiasm for our own persona's culture blinds us to the 
possibility that other cultures had contributions which were just as 
significant as our own. OTOH, it also can blind us to the fact that other 
cultures did indeed make far more of an impact on history than we are aware 
of. The path to walk between the two is narrow and fraught with danger.

Yours in service to the Dream and the Kingdom of Aethelmearc,
al-Sayyid A'aql ibn Rashid al-Zib, AoA, OSyc, OKey, His Majesty's Tailor
Apprentice to Master Huen Damebrigge of Wychwood
Web Minister (Abhainn Ciach Ghlais)
Guildmaster (The Guild of St. Martha)
Kingdom of Aethelmearc
Shire of Abhainn Ciach Ghlais
Mountain Confederation
Clan Ravenstar
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