SR - A Question Concerni

[Dennis and Dory Grace]

Crystal wrote:
>A couple of years ago, there was a discussion about making principalities  I
>wrote the up a letter that addressed all the reasons that people gave for
>dividing up Ansteorra.

Well, first off, that was then and this is now. That proposal did not come
from the local/regional populace, this one did. Everyone I've spoken to
about the earlier situation was upset that the mandate for principality was
being forced on them from above, and that if it were something that sprung
from a grassroots effort, that would be a totally different story. *Now*
it's a grassroots effort from withint the region, and some of the people
who said this to me are *still* objecting. It just goes to show that no
matter what you do, there will always be some people who aren't satisfied
and will just have to go against whatever idea is proposed.

>At the bottom I discuss the fact that the last
>time this was brought up - people seemed to think that we did not a have a
>choice.  That we would eventually be a principality anyway.  Well, I say that
>we do have a choice.

Yes, we do. Nobody "from above" is trying to mandate for us. People
*within* the region have made the decision to consider a principality and
are discussing and researching and working on this. 

>Two years ago, I wasn't willing to sit by quietly and
>watch anyone divide up my kingdom, and I have no intention of doing it now. 
>It is not a forgone conclusion that we will break into principalities.  ONE
>STAR - ONE KINGDOM!!!

Very nice drum beating (caps and all). Now how about giving some
consideration to populace desire? How about giving some credit to all the
individuals willing to do the work and coordinate the events and contribute
the time and the money to support projects aimed at better informing our
populace and nurturing our regional identity? How about some credence to
all the creative energies and enthusiasm that have been flowing into this?  

>Sept 7 1996
>Fellow Ansteorrans:

I'd like to point out, before I offer counters to the counter-arguments,
that it would seem that the same concerns have been coming up for some
time. Concerns that keep coming up repeatedly like this are indicative of
things that need to be adressed with some sort of action. I think we're
doing the right thing now in actually taking steps to address them instead
of sweeping them under the rug yet again.

>Reason:  The Kingdom is too big geographically.
>Counter:  Refer to the map on http://agn.physics.montana.edu/SCA/index.html
>You can see from this map that geographically we are about the same size as
>most of the other kingdoms.

If people want a smaller, codified secondary area within which to develop a
closer community spirit, then they should have it. 

>Reason: We have too many groups.
>Counter (1):  I found the number of groups for each kingdom and each
>principality in the Known World.<snipped info form other kingdoms>

Once again, if folk are feeling some disenfranchisement from the number of
groups in the kingdom and want to have a scaled down version to interact
within, then they should have it. Though I can't say as I've heard this
specifically given as a reason in our present discussions.

>Reason:  We have too many people.
>Counter: Then why are a number of our baronies  and shires having trouble
>simply maintaining their minimum membership requirements?

It would seem that to the "We have too many people" reason, you're saying
"No we don't." That's just a matter of opinion on either side, I'd say,
though I haven't heard this reason come up in the present discussion, either.

>Reason: There are so many groups that small groups can not get space on the
>calendar .  In order for all the events to take place there are 3 events
every
>weekend.  Dividing the Kingodm will make it easier for smaller groups to hold
>events.
>Counter (1):  First, this is not a very good argument, because dividing the
>kingdom will not make one bit of difference.  Let me try to explain why.
Lets
>say that on a given weekend 300 people plan to go to events in Ansteorra. 
>Each person has their own reasons why they choose a given event.  (Reasons:
>their friends are going, their interest is there (ie fighting, archery,
>A&S,ect), ect.)  Now here is the question.  If we put lines on a map,  will
>this change which events people go to?  I think that people will still have
>the same reasons for going to given events and the map will not matter.

Well, here you've just countered your own argument that Baronies outside a
principality won't support the smaller groups' events.

>Counter (2):  This 3 events per weekend does not make sense.  By my
>calculations: there are 42 groups and 52 weekends a year.  If there were 3
>events per weekend, 12 groups would have to hold 3 events a year and the
other
>30 groups would have to hold 4 events a year.  Speaking member of a shire for
>the past 5 years, I know that most small groups (all ~ 30 of them) are not
>doing this many events, so who is "hogging" all the dates???  Maybe we should
>address this problem seperately.

This is a minor issue. The one nice thing about having a principality and a
principality newsletter and a published calendar would be that we can be
better informed as to what smaller "tiny tourney" type events are going on
that aren't allowed space in the BlackStar, and, silly as it might sound,
people won't feel as guilty about holding them.

>Reason: The regional officers are not getting enough recognition, and as a
>principality officer they would have more recognition.
>Counter:  So lets recognize the regionals more, for that matter, we need to
>recognize all the officers more.  I do not think that putting new lines on a
>map will make a difference, we simply need to raise the awareness of the
>populous on this.

Well, it's been two years and this is still being brought up as a valid
concern. Maybe "putting new lines on a map" *will* make a difference. There
are those of us who've observed it make a difference in other places; it's
a phenomenon that's not new.

>Reason: The crown can not make it to all the events that they would like too,
>so they would like to have more royalty to go around. (IE: with
principalitis,
>there would be "extra" prince/princes to attend other events.)
>Counter:  One solution to this probelm is to move Crown tourney to right
after
>Coronation.  Then let the Prince and Princess go to different events than the
>Crown.  This will give up to 4 events that can be covered year round.  (This
>is what is currently done in some of the other kingdoms, and seems to work
out
>well.)

Again, one of those "well, we could do this instead" that hasn't happened.
This sort of argument is just a red herring. If someone were actually going
to implement this suggestion,  it would have been done by now. It hasn't.
Let's move on.

>Reason:  It is too expensive for the crown to travel the whole kingdom.
>Counter (1):  So don't try for the Crown if you can't afford it.  (This
sounds
>harsh, but it is part of the oath that everyone who fights in Crown
Tournement
>takes.)
>Counter (2):  If this is honestly a continual problem,  let us, as a kingdom,
>support the crown more.  We can easily raise money via raffles, auctions,
>special events, ect.

Another example of "we could do this instead" that hasn't happened.

>Perhaps, I am missing something here, but I have not been convinced that we
>must divide our home up.

Unfounded emotional appeal.

>1) At Gothic Wars, a man stood up that said that he had lived in a number of
>kingdoms and that he had just been in Ansteorra for 2 weeks.  He said that he
>had been so impressed with this Kindgom, the people, and its spirit that he
>wanted to swear fealty to the kingdom that night.

So, do you believe that the spirit of the people of Ansteorra will be
destroyed by a region of Ansteorrans creating a principality? Do you really
believe  the Ansteorran spirit to be so fragile? I don't think so.

>2) I spent several months living in Calontir and although I am not anyone
>important, but people there did not think that.  They thought I was someone
>important because I was an ANSTEORRAN.

Would you feel any less Ansteorran if you had lived within a principality
of Ansteorra?  

>I think that this is very important.  These examples show how people outside
>our kingdom see us. It is great!!!  People are really impressed by what we
>have.  How can we just let that go?

Once again I'm saddened by the unspoken assumptions here--that if we form a
principality we'll no longer "be Ansteorran" and that our populace is
somehow lesser than the rest of the kingdom. This despite the energy and
creativity and contribution that's been evidencing itself lately. We
deserve better than that.

>For the last 20+ years, this kingdom has grown, acquired a rich history, and
>developed a family of people that makes this an incredible place to live. 
>This is the place that I look forward to raising my children and I want them
>to be part of this great kingdom.  But now someone wants to take that away
>from them.

I'm trying to take into consideration that this letter was written two
years ago when the principality issue was being thrown down from "above"
and was not from the impetus of the populace. But now we're talking about
countrymen and kinsmen here, we're talking about our friends and neighbors.
The Southern Region is fine part of this great kingdom, having contributed
its share to the rich history of this kingdom, and would make a fine
contribution as a principality to this kingdom as well. I have that much
appreciation and that much belief and that much confidence in the
strong,capable Ansteorrans of this region.

>And as for the idea that creating Pricipalites does not change the kingdom, I
>do not believe this for one second.

Neither do I. I think it will be a testament to the ability of Ansteorran
folk to pull together and create and build. I think of how grand it would
be to show up at Gulf Wars, our Prince at our King's side, a Principality
force trained and set at His Majesty's bidding. The possibilities give me
goosebumps.

>There are people who are too ambitious
>for us to allow them the easy opportunity to try to be "a bigger fish by
>making the pond smaller."  Ambitious people will jump at the first
opportunity
>to change a principality to a kingdom, for their own "glory".

Again, some very ugly assumptions about your friends and countrymen here.
These are some very ungenerous statements, especially from one of our
landeds who I'd think would try to promote more positive expectations of
the realm. I know this is a two-year-old letter, but these sort of
statements troubles me gravely.

>Populus Opinion

Populace opinion now, as opposed to then, supports the idea. I say this
based on the polls taken to date showing somehwere around 75% or better in
favor. As far as I'm concerned, that's one of the greatest reasons for
considering and discussing and moving toward forming a
principality--because of *what people want.* A lot of the renewed energy
and enthusiasm lately has been in part *due* to principality considerations.

I *know* that change can be a scary thing, sometimes quite a bit more so
for some folks than others. Ansteorra's been a kingdom for quite some
little time now and has yet to birth a principality. No one here has
anything to go by for comparison as far as past Ansteorran principalities
go. All anyone has to go on for comparison are those of us who've actually
lived in a principality outside of this kingdom. Many of us have had
positive experiences. Based on the caliber of folk here, I have every
reason to believe it would be a positive experience here, as well as an
opportunity to set an excellent example for any other area that might
consider making a principality in the future.

I may not originally be from Ansteorra, but I've been here a while and I'm
Ansteorran now, and I've grown to care quite a lot for the folks here and
for the welfare of the populace as a whole. I think they deserve not only
the benefit of the doubt, but honorable expectations as well.

Aquilanne


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