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January 1 1998"Perhaps, here and there, men will form themselves into small communities, where the names of such things as courage, discipline and responsibility may be occasionally recollected, communities which, in their small way, might be worthy of homestones. Such communities, emerging upon the ruins, might provide a nucleus for regeneration, a sounder, more biological regeneration of a social structure, one not antithetical to the nature of human beings" |
I read that quote from Explorers of Gor everytime I log onto this paper's website, or my own tavern's website. I think it is probably one of my favorite quotes yet read. Each time I read it, I cannot help but ask myself "Why is it so hard for most people to understand?". Indeed, why? Looking again at the quote printed above, I see that it is pretty straightforward, no difficult words or equasions, just a rather simple idea, but one which many of us hold true. An idea which, to us, is the foundation for our beliefs, and how they relate to a ruined society.
What do you see when you read that quote? Is it just another of those many boring paragraphs from the narrative of a series of science fiction books? A paragraph that most of you would simply skip over to get to Tarl's next fight scene, or his next exciting, and oddly satisfying enslavement of a pompous freewoman? Read the words again, several times if necessary, and attempt to associate the content of that paragraph with the realities of the world around you. It may help to understand that the paragraph was part of a discussion that Tarl was having with a slave, who had come from Earth; a slave that had asked him if there was any hope for the salvation of Earth's utterly confused and emasculated feminist societies, and their men. I think that if we look very truthfully at what we, as men and women of Earth, must live with in our day to day lives, we can begin to understand the paragraph better, since it is very relative to life, and society as we know it.
Most societies of modern Earth tend to lean towards the ideals of gender equality. We have been conditioned to believe that women can act the roles of men, and men can feel comfortable being women, and it is encouraged. In fact, one would have to be either blind and deaf, or very stupid to argue that point. Equality of the sexes is an idea which is force fed into our psyches from the time we are very young, and we are taught to believe that gender roles should not even exist beyond the inescapable act of procreation, and if they do exist, that they are wrong. As an example, take a look at today's Army: We now have women fighting side by side with men. This, in my opinion, is probably the most extreme example of women conditioned to think that they can do anything men can do. Warfare, for thousands of years, has been the sole territory of men, and for a good reason. Males, by nature, are the more agressive sex of our species. They are biologically, and psycologically better constructed to fight, to hunt, to protect, and to dominate. Now this is not to say that women cannot perform well under the conditions of warfare, but I believe that we should face facts: warfare should be left to those best suited to perform the required tasks involved. So why is it allowed? Perhaps there are those misfits of the female sex who have whined and cried long and hard enough to a "big hearted" liberal know-what's-best-for-us government that they finally got their way, because they were incapable of assuming their proper niche in society, that of a natural human female. However, the blame is as much on those men who allowed it to happen.
Why is it encouraged? Is this what men and women really want? I would think such equality goes very much against the grain of most men and women who are still somewhat in touch with their own human nature...
We live in a world where basic human nature is considered to be unacceptable, ugly, and barbaric. We have been taught that we are above nature, and no longer a part of it. In this day and age of test tube babies, and biogenetic tampering, it is of little surprise that the proper, natural roles of men and women are so frowned upon, and often forgotten. Science is on the verge of assuming those roles. Although it is true that we are perhaps the most intelligent form of life on the planet, it is also true that we are still animals, with deeply embedded physiological needs which are as much a part of us as our skin, flesh and skeletal system. Just because we have minds and bodies that allow us to create toasters, computers, civilizations, and fly out into space, does not give us the right to separate ourselves from nature.
Nature is about living with what we are, and understanding it. It is about survival. It is about the betterment and advancement, by the process of natural selection, of a species... It is my own opinion that the human race has not been the subject of anything even closely resembling proper natural selection...
What animal, besides the unfortunate human, is there that allows the weak, or unproductive of their species to survive, and reproduce? Show me that animal, and I will show you an animal that is utterly overpopulous, and so restricted in it's nature that it would probably rather die off, than live as it is forced to live with it's anxiety, misery, sickness, and frustration. Look around at all of the things that you depend on in your everyday lives. Who among you, if it was all taken away, would have the means, or the knowledge to survive? Technology is indeed a wonderous thing. It has given us a great many things with which to live in comfort. Society has given us a great many laws to survive in relative safety. But at what cost? I'll tell you the price, whether you choose to believe it or not, is of course, up to you: The cost is our freedom, and our human nature. Is it really worth it?
Consider now your comfort, and your safety. Picture it all gone, for a moment, and ask yourself "Will I survive?". I think most humans would not. The highest percentage of those humans who would die in such a scenario, are probably those who are the farthest out of touch with their human nature, and so utterly dependant on society, that they will be lost. In such a scenario, it would be only the strong surviving, and those which the strong allow to survive among them, due, perhaps to various positive human qualities that would provide the building blocks for a sounder, more biologically stable future. Do not make the mistake of thinking that I speak of only physical strength when I mention the strong of a species. There are, of course, many positive attributes to be found in an animal. Intelligence, beauty, also forms of strength, should be encouraged and sought out when seeking to reproduce, to ensure the naturally sound survival of the species. If we look just a little more closely at our other animal cohabitants on this Earth, we will not see very many weak, and stupid individuals among them. Why do you suppose this is? Could it be that they are perhaps so utterly content with their nature that they just leave it be? I think so. You may think that they are simply not intelligent enough to advance. I prefer to think that they are intelligent enough not to. Perhaps the answer will be shown to us someday.
The process of natural selection and survival, is perhaps ugly to a great many individuals. Ugly or not, it is a brutal lesson in biology, and nature, and is very much alive, whether we choose to recognize it or not...
You may be asking yourselves right about now, how is it that I can have such heartless thoughts. The answer is simple: We live on a world that is now so hopelessly overcrowded, and grossly over-governed, closely approaching 7 billion people, that it would be foolish for a man NOT to envision a return to the past; a past where a man took care of himself and his own, without anyone telling him that the way he lives is wrong, and unacceptable. A past where a man either lived by his skills and instincts, his intelligence, and his wit, or he perished. A past where a man lived among like-minded men, and women lived to serve such men to the best of their abilities. Is this really such a bad thing? Is it totally outrageous to think that there are men and women out there who seek to have as much of these things in their lives as they can? The answer is very obviously "No".
Looking again at the quote written above, and my own thoughts about what is basically wrong with most of our society as it relates to human beings and nature, you may indeed see that we are already in ruins. The quote speaks of men forming "themselves into small communities..." and providing "...a nucleus for regeneration, a sounder, more biological regeneration of a social structure, one not antithetical to the nature of human beings." You may begin to see that what we do here, in our small community, is to emerge upon those ruins in our own way, spreading the truth of our beliefs to those who choose to listen, and understand. When we discover those who choose to only make a roleplaying game out of the Gorean philosophy, we simply exclude them from the community, because they lack the courage, discipline and responsibility to be a functional part ot it. They are not worth the effort, nor our time.
Perhaps by now, since I have dwelt at length on this one quote and how it relates to us, you are thinking that the life we try to lead is being led through a series of books, and a bunch of quotations. I recall seeing a D/s channel topic once, saying something to the effect of "We live by no books". Well, surprise! Neither do we. Much of what we do merely coincides with what is found within the books. You may think we do these things because John Norman "told" us to do them through his writings. No. This is hardly the case. What we do, we would still be doing even if the world had never heard of John Norman and his novels. The reason that we use the title of "Gorean", is really very simple: The nature of Norman's fictional world, very closely embraces what I would call "unemaciated human nature". We are not what we are "because" Norman wrote a sci-fi series, what we are is much older than that, going back to the very roots of mankind. It is simply convenient that the philosophy that is described all through this series of books, relates very closely to our own beliefs and ideas. This is why we call ourselves "Goreans"... It is our nature to be what we are.
I wish you well