[Sca-cooks] OT- Input request from SCA BoD - Please Help!

[Siegfried Heydrich]

    Ummm, look, don't kill the messenger, here. I used to be a market
researcher, and I'm always trying to isolate patterns and trends. I run into
people who used to be in the SCA upon occasion, and I generally like to ask
why they're no longer active. Very few have ever cited poverty or
'outgrowing' the SCA. Most have been pretty vociferous, though, about
politics, and the revulsion they felt that compelled them to leave. Mostly,
it's their reaction to the hypocrisy of people spouting words like 'honor'
and 'courtesy' while engaging in the basest treachery and backstabbing that
drives them away. You should HEAR some of the stories I've been told!
    I've been active with various church groups and NPOs, and yes, all have
some degree of politics. Churches tend to be really nasty . . . But SCA
politics has a degree of viciousness to it that I've never found anywhere
else (except, perhaps, for a couple of Covens I know that went spectacularly
nova . . .). Most other groups have politics that are issue oriented, that
deal with the goals, direction, or procedures of that group. I've seen
almost none of that in the SCA - almost all politics I've observed is
conducted on a personal level, and is personality driven.
    In the going on 20 years I've been in the Society, I've NEVER seen a
political squabble that involved policy (unless it was a disputed
elevation). Invariably, it's one person (or clique) that's bent on screwing
over another person (or clique). It's been my experience that the PTBs don't
care a whit for Kingdom law, corpora, or even mundane law unless it's
something they can wield as a weapon. If not, it's ignored and swept under
the carpet.
    I used to be Principal Herald, and my experiences as a Greater Officer
almost made me quit the Society. I witnessed (and refused to participate in)
actions that literally made me nauseous. I was eventually removed from
office, partly because I wouldn't carry out orders that were so abhorrent to
me that I came very close to resigning my Peerage and hitting the road.
Instead, I sought out the real SCA, the one populated by people who have
better things to do with their time than engage in cutthroat. Like cook.
    Myself, I don't play politics. I have as little to do with the Kingdom
(big K) as possible, while serving the kingdom (small k) to the best of my
abilities. I stay as far away from the SCA as I can while being an active
and engaged Trimarian. I run a tavern to feed the populace, and we provide
transport about the camp. We throw KILLER parties as well! The peepul, god
bless their pointy li'l heads, make putting up with pointy hats and those
whose egos are bound up within their medallions all worth while. The Dream
lies in the souls of the people, not the Kingdom's power structure.
    Do I think the Board can do anything about it? No. After all, they're
the Darwinian success stories of the process. Why would they change a system
that has allowed them to achieve Imperial ambitions? And before y'all start
getting all haired up, consider that the SCA has evolved over 35 years,
which means the system now moulds it's members into what IT finds suitable,
and is largely immune to change. Consider the fact that Jesse Helms was once
an idealistic young freshman . . . as was Teddy Kennedy. Look at them both
now. Products of the system . . .

    Sieggy

----- Original Message -----

> Sieggy,
>
> All due respect, must esteemed Sieggy-mon, but...
>
> I think you are full of it.
>
> Yes. Some people leave because of politics. But certainly not all, and I
> don't even think a great majority. Why do people leave? I think most
> people leave *because they grow up and grow past the SCA*. An awful lot of
> people finish college and we never see them again. Or they finally get
> that Real Job, and Real Car, a Real SO, then the Real Spouse, and Real
> Kid, A Real House complete with a Real Mortgage... some of us stay anyway,
> but many choose to go on. Many people quite playing because of long-term
> financial and employment problems. Some of us manage to stay, some simply
> curtail involvement until their lives settle down.
>
> I personally know ONE, count him, ONE person who dropped out specifically
> because of politics. And you know what? He still comes back for two
> specific events- to see friends and chase women and pretend he's young
> again. He is but one. I may know others, but they are all persons for whom
> there were many reasons to drop out- not just one.
>
> I have hovered on the edge for awhile- due to the financial-employment
> concerns. I make one event a month or so, sometimes more, sometimes
> less. Basically the cooks list has seen most of my activity in the past
> couple of years.
>
> At the same time, I refuse to let being broke stop me from some of the
> basic stuff I do. It does not stop me from teaching- in person, on the
> phone, on-line... from doing research, from learning more so that when I
> can be more active, I have something to bring with me. And in the
> meantime, if someone asks for help or information, you cannot prevent me
> from helping them because my membership has lapsed.
>
> One more thing about politics-
>
> I know they can be bad. I saw what drove Paul away- I was his Lady at the
> time and boy did it hurt. But most of the time when I hear people talk
> about bad politics and how it makes them sooo unhappy and makes them want
> to quit, I have to restrain myself, because what I think is: Grown up and
> get over it. The world is not about you. Most politics is like an itch-
> ignore it, and it goes away on it's own. But scratch it?... And I also
> begin to wonder about their own attitude and commitment- those who yell
> the most about politics tend to be the sloppiest, cruellest players. Those
> who are truly in it 'For the Love of the Game' are the first to look for
> solutions best for everyone, and will graciously bow out if they think
> they are hurting someone.
>
> I could write more, but the tall gorgeous one is banging around in the
> other room, and wer'e going out tonight- I need to iron my blouse.
>
> Have a nice evening, everyone,
>
> 'Lainie
>
>
>
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