FACTIONALISM

Some of the posts and threads on the various Gorean Message boards recently had led me to dig into my stack of stuff and pull out another writing from one named Marcus of Ar and try to make sense out of all of this.

FACTIONALISM

If all the serious Goreans online and off would simply unite to work for the common good, much might be accomplished.

However there is currently so much factionalism present in most of what we call online Gorean interaction, that it may not be possible to reach such people. Message boards and the like are an excellent way to do so ... yet we see the divisive factors which rear their ugly heads even there.

Basically it all comes down to this: everyone is going to make up their own minds about all of this, be it "what is Gorean?" or "how best we should apply Gorean knowledge to our interaction." All anyone can do is try to get enough Gorean information out there for the perusal of others and attempt to give such people a leg up, and a common standard to shoot for. After that, the ball's in their court.

I was recently asked:

"Well what's the point of going to battle with an inferior enemy? Ones easily crushed and destroyed are usually not worth the time. These foes think they are powerful, but they are like an ant ... possibly powerful amongst its peers, but the foot of any slave would extinguish its life."

That is true. But if enough ants are allowed to congregate, and if they are voracious enough and insatiable enough, they can strip a rain forest and destroy everything in their path. Or if nothing else, they can ruin a perfectly good picnic.

While it makes sense to ignore them up to a certain point, sometimes you simply have to stand up for your opinions. Just so long as you base those opinions upon the truth, the truth in this case being the information set forth in the Gor books and the experience of those who have practiced Gorean principles in their lives based upon that information.

Still ... imagine what would happen if the online Goreans looked around and noticed that they are on the same side. It would be a powerful force indeed!

Plus it would sure be a lot quieter around here, and much more enjoyable.

It has been suggested to me that Gorean factions which consider themselves "the real thing" and work to combat other factions are, in actuality, destroying the "reality" they hold dear.

That depends entirely upon whether or not they happen to be the real thing, though. And such a judgement must be based entirely upon the information provided in the Gor books, and whether or not they display themselves to be "Gorean" according to that information through their actions.

As I have said before, there must be a common standard. Heck, there already is one. The Gor books. If it don't say it in those books, and it is not something which is strictly applicable to extrapolated "Gorean" interaction here on Earth (cyber dollars and channel op status or such) then it cannot be classified as being within that standard.

The problem is not that there is not such a standard; the problem is that some people refuse to recognize its validity. And frankly, I have no idea what can be done to remedy that, apart from educating people about what the Gor books actually say, and the most reasonable interpretations of such.

As always, I challenge all, myself included, to read and apply these words in their own online Gorean interaction these days