[Sca-cooks] SCA Politics

[Terry Decker]

We often lose people who are not party to either side of a fight, but find
the ugliness a compelling reason to find another hobby.  Others find they
have been used by the combatents and leave.

Even if they don't leave the SCA, the group who has the problem often loses
the support of able members who go elsewhere to play.  Four to five years
ago, I began playing outside of Ansteorra, because I couldn't stomach the
vendettas that were being pursued.  It came very close to destroying the
Barony I helped build 25+ years ago.  The wheel turned and I'm playing again
in the Barony, but my participation is limited and I spend almost as much
time out of my kingdom as in it.

Unfortunately, like academia, the smaller the reward, the more savage the
infighting.  What most people refer to as "politics" has damn little to do
with the political process.  It is actually a game of spite and malice
carried to extremes with lies, rumors, innuendo, bad manners, and
occasionally misdemeanors and felonies.  It simple demonstrates that the
people who cause the problems are too inept to produce the results they
desire within the rules.

Bear



>
>The only people I've seen drop out because of "politics" have been people
>who tried "power plays" that failed.
>Alex