femkes_follies (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
femkes_follies) wrote2011-02-21 01:25 pm
femkes_follies) wrote2011-02-21 01:25 pm
The SCA and "Power" politics
or - No matter how exalted your imaginary rank may be - you are not the Anointed of God. Really.
Why, yes, folks. I'm working my way into another rant.
I've gotten mortally tired of various attempts of little cliques of people trying to "control" something, at various levels. Yes, I know it's not an issue that can really be fixed. That doesn't mean I can't be annoyed by it.
And it ranges from one or two local folks putting together a small oligarchy that then steers a local group/guild/etc. in a given direction to machinations involving rhino-hiding or using talented fighters as "byes" to put a specific person on the thrones. And every level in between. From two households or "camps" struggling over control of a local group to Inter-Regional malice and attempts to hoard honors and privileges so that another "competing" group can't have them.
It's never something that's out-and-out against the rules. After all, most SCA positions tend to be filled by the selection of the outgoing officer. There are occasional provisions for seeking the approval of superior officers or a vote of confidence from the populace or some such. But, in practice, most often people leave things to a hand-picked successor. On a good day, someone who knows the job inside and out selects someone who possesses the appropriate skill set. On an average day, the burnt-out officer hands off to the first willing (or semi-willing) volunteer to turn up. On a bad day... one household, or clique, or area gets the claws into a position and develops a deeply-set need to hang onto it at all costs - even when it gets repeatedly filled by someone who has neither the skills nor the desire to do the job - just a burning for the title and any perceived honors that come with it.
While the damage leaves deep scars. One small clique that seizes and maintains hold of most offices in a Canton can cause those who aren't "in" the clique to leave the Canton and play elsewhere. Or leave the Society. Or break off and form a Shire a few miles away. Neither smaller group is likely to be as successful as they could have been combined.
The problem is, it's an "honor-based" conundrum. If you know in your heart that your palsy-walsy who want desperately to be Seneschal... is going to do badly at it and already has a lot of not-so-friends in the Shire, the honorable thing to do is choose a successor who is more acceptable to the populace at large and more likely to be able to perform well in the job. But it's a matter of following your conscience.
Likewise, rhino-hiding your way to the throne CAN be (and has been) done. Because nobody knows for SURE what a given blow felt like from inside the armor, it's pretty hard to make that accusation. When it happens, though - three things walk away damaged: Your honor - because you know in your heart that you cheated. Your reputation - people notice. And talk, even if it's behind their hands. The Kingdom - It deserves a better Crown than a cheater with a poor reputation.
The same is true in those areas where it's understood that certain talented fighters are in the Tourney solely to knock out all those but the chosen applicant - to whom they will deliberately lose. It's wrong, and it shouldn't happen - but how do you prove it? Of course - what leaps into MY mind is "Who do you people think you are, to sit there and 'choose' the King?"
This is part of why I have such a problem with Households. Households (sooner or later) will present people with divided loyalties and pressure to do what is the WRONG thing - for the good of the household. And rare is the individual who can correctly prioritize their conflicting loyalties. Households create a greater tendency to "group think." I think this is MORE true of the larger Mega-households than the smaller, personal ones. But it's present regardless, to one degree or another. It creates a We/They mentality. And I've seen it do all of the above ills - shatter Shires, corrupt formal Tournaments, mangle offices nearly beyond recognition.
The really chilling bit is that the perpetrators seem to often not recognize their behavior. They've been at it so long - they honestly believe they ARE doing the right thing. And the whine goes up about how everybody think's they're controlling, and they're so tired of all the Conspiracy Theories. Here's a hint - if you're doing things behind closed doors whose purpose is to maintain the status of yourself, your group, your area, or your household (or worse yet, to inflict damage on another) - it's not a Conspiracy Theory. It's a Conspiracy.
So, in summupance - At the end of the event, the King and the Pawn go back into the same box. You have no power. None of it is real. So stop acting like the Captain of the Cheerleading squad, a character from Mean Girls or the Heathers, or some tin-pot Dictator. Let the chips fall where they may. Be honest in your heart - no single "bad" king is on the throne long enough to damage the Kingdom nearly as much as the start of power games to "choose" who will be King next. And your household is not so spiffy that you need to "hang onto" any office - even the Crown - for term after term. Even if you think you have the better "vision" for your Shire - it does not justify those kinds of machinations to maintain control of offices in order to implement it. Especially if the rest of the group is against it or indifferent. That's a road to be avoided at all costs. Throw the vacancies open to all those interested and sift for talent - not connections.
A certain amount of politicking and back-room bargaining is inevitable. But don't pretend it's something that it isn't. And don't think for an instant that the Ends justify the Means.
Why, yes, folks. I'm working my way into another rant.
I've gotten mortally tired of various attempts of little cliques of people trying to "control" something, at various levels. Yes, I know it's not an issue that can really be fixed. That doesn't mean I can't be annoyed by it.
And it ranges from one or two local folks putting together a small oligarchy that then steers a local group/guild/etc. in a given direction to machinations involving rhino-hiding or using talented fighters as "byes" to put a specific person on the thrones. And every level in between. From two households or "camps" struggling over control of a local group to Inter-Regional malice and attempts to hoard honors and privileges so that another "competing" group can't have them.
It's never something that's out-and-out against the rules. After all, most SCA positions tend to be filled by the selection of the outgoing officer. There are occasional provisions for seeking the approval of superior officers or a vote of confidence from the populace or some such. But, in practice, most often people leave things to a hand-picked successor. On a good day, someone who knows the job inside and out selects someone who possesses the appropriate skill set. On an average day, the burnt-out officer hands off to the first willing (or semi-willing) volunteer to turn up. On a bad day... one household, or clique, or area gets the claws into a position and develops a deeply-set need to hang onto it at all costs - even when it gets repeatedly filled by someone who has neither the skills nor the desire to do the job - just a burning for the title and any perceived honors that come with it.
While the damage leaves deep scars. One small clique that seizes and maintains hold of most offices in a Canton can cause those who aren't "in" the clique to leave the Canton and play elsewhere. Or leave the Society. Or break off and form a Shire a few miles away. Neither smaller group is likely to be as successful as they could have been combined.
The problem is, it's an "honor-based" conundrum. If you know in your heart that your palsy-walsy who want desperately to be Seneschal... is going to do badly at it and already has a lot of not-so-friends in the Shire, the honorable thing to do is choose a successor who is more acceptable to the populace at large and more likely to be able to perform well in the job. But it's a matter of following your conscience.
Likewise, rhino-hiding your way to the throne CAN be (and has been) done. Because nobody knows for SURE what a given blow felt like from inside the armor, it's pretty hard to make that accusation. When it happens, though - three things walk away damaged: Your honor - because you know in your heart that you cheated. Your reputation - people notice. And talk, even if it's behind their hands. The Kingdom - It deserves a better Crown than a cheater with a poor reputation.
The same is true in those areas where it's understood that certain talented fighters are in the Tourney solely to knock out all those but the chosen applicant - to whom they will deliberately lose. It's wrong, and it shouldn't happen - but how do you prove it? Of course - what leaps into MY mind is "Who do you people think you are, to sit there and 'choose' the King?"
This is part of why I have such a problem with Households. Households (sooner or later) will present people with divided loyalties and pressure to do what is the WRONG thing - for the good of the household. And rare is the individual who can correctly prioritize their conflicting loyalties. Households create a greater tendency to "group think." I think this is MORE true of the larger Mega-households than the smaller, personal ones. But it's present regardless, to one degree or another. It creates a We/They mentality. And I've seen it do all of the above ills - shatter Shires, corrupt formal Tournaments, mangle offices nearly beyond recognition.
The really chilling bit is that the perpetrators seem to often not recognize their behavior. They've been at it so long - they honestly believe they ARE doing the right thing. And the whine goes up about how everybody think's they're controlling, and they're so tired of all the Conspiracy Theories. Here's a hint - if you're doing things behind closed doors whose purpose is to maintain the status of yourself, your group, your area, or your household (or worse yet, to inflict damage on another) - it's not a Conspiracy Theory. It's a Conspiracy.
So, in summupance - At the end of the event, the King and the Pawn go back into the same box. You have no power. None of it is real. So stop acting like the Captain of the Cheerleading squad, a character from Mean Girls or the Heathers, or some tin-pot Dictator. Let the chips fall where they may. Be honest in your heart - no single "bad" king is on the throne long enough to damage the Kingdom nearly as much as the start of power games to "choose" who will be King next. And your household is not so spiffy that you need to "hang onto" any office - even the Crown - for term after term. Even if you think you have the better "vision" for your Shire - it does not justify those kinds of machinations to maintain control of offices in order to implement it. Especially if the rest of the group is against it or indifferent. That's a road to be avoided at all costs. Throw the vacancies open to all those interested and sift for talent - not connections.
A certain amount of politicking and back-room bargaining is inevitable. But don't pretend it's something that it isn't. And don't think for an instant that the Ends justify the Means.
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