Watching the boat burn
Mar. 17th, 2023 11:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blimixI feel sorrow for my SCA friends. From what I can see from the outside, the organization leadership are being dickbags, sacrificing the well being of members and encouraging power hungry bullies. There's a big event tomorrow that friends of mine have put a lot of work into. They are not allowed to require masks (thanks to the Board of Directors), and there will almost certainly be Covid-positive attendees. Other friends have already left the SCA for their mental health. There have long been toxic aspects of the culture there, but the leadership is making it so much worse now.
I think the SCA is one of those groups where outcasts, geeks, freaks, and nerds find their "home": The people with whom they can be themselves. I used to have a small, far-flung, and passionate group like that for myself. But we were young and full of Geek Social Fallacies. Few who have suffered ostracism want to inflict it on others. Few who benefit from their group want to deny its benefits to the other members. But then one or two toxic members gradually rip the group apart. In a big organization like the SCA, it's way more than one or two toxic members. As the worst are encouraged and the best are driven out, even those who stay out of desperation for their valued friendships and passions will lose what they were getting from the group.
I'm sure it was never supposed to get political, but I can't help but see the hand of identity politics. Spreading Covid is a Republican value. Punishing people for defying bullies is a Republican value. The SCA leadership are taking these actions because doing so declares their affiliation, which they think will keep them safe from their overlords. Because they've never read about the Brown Shirts.
I think the SCA is one of those groups where outcasts, geeks, freaks, and nerds find their "home": The people with whom they can be themselves. I used to have a small, far-flung, and passionate group like that for myself. But we were young and full of Geek Social Fallacies. Few who have suffered ostracism want to inflict it on others. Few who benefit from their group want to deny its benefits to the other members. But then one or two toxic members gradually rip the group apart. In a big organization like the SCA, it's way more than one or two toxic members. As the worst are encouraged and the best are driven out, even those who stay out of desperation for their valued friendships and passions will lose what they were getting from the group.
I'm sure it was never supposed to get political, but I can't help but see the hand of identity politics. Spreading Covid is a Republican value. Punishing people for defying bullies is a Republican value. The SCA leadership are taking these actions because doing so declares their affiliation, which they think will keep them safe from their overlords. Because they've never read about the Brown Shirts.
