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April 1 1998
The column I write is called "Lifestyles", it having to do with living the Gorean philosophy in our lives. When Danath asked me to contribute it, I agreed, thinking this would be a fine forum to put forth for discussion many issues that deal with our communities and how we live our lives as Goreans offline. I have done so, in many of these past months, but in doing so something has been driven home to me via my mailbox over and over again. The vast majority of the readership who choose to respond are not interested in how one lives as a Gorean offline. They are more interested in how one can appear to be one online.
Which brings me to a realization that I should have had many months ago, and that is that some will only ever see this as an online pastime. This, despite the fact that one can take this philosophy into ones life and live it without making wholesale and overt changes in ones outward life (ie. you do not have take a sword to the Kmart or ride a tarn to work to be Gorean (and anyone who says you do is a fool)). As I spent time thinking about all of this, thinking of my online community and the rest of them out there, I came across something that Marcus wrote a while back that he published on the #silk&Steel web site, on the page page titled: "THE THIRD KNOWLEDGE". (http://www2.1starnet.com/mharris/3rdknowl.html)
If I were going to write something about the online community, as opposed to offline (and I am not convinced they should be separate at all, however, most seem to think they are) I could not do much better than he did in this piece. Marcus and I do not agree on all things at all times, but what he says here speaks directly to the misconceptions and discontent of many online. He says here what needs to be said, what needs to be considered and what needs to be taken to heart by the vast majority of online "Goreans", and I can think of no better way to present it to you except to simply reprint it below, with his permission.
My Email is noted below, if you wish to respond or discuss this or other issues dealing with the lifestyle. I cannot promise a reply, but I will read all mail and pass the pertinent ones along to Marcus as well.
Until the middle of the month, I wish you well.
RULES, ANARCHY, AND THE GOOD OLD DAYS
I have spent a lot of time in the past several weeks, visiting and viewing "Gorean" websites, and I have seen the same things, over and over.
I continuously read the same, whiny complaints again and again... persons complaining that "Gor," as it exists online on IRC, just "isn't the way it used to be" way back in "the good old days." Each such assertation is then typically followed by indignant declarations that "all of the true kajirae have left" and that "honor and integrity seem to have abandoned Gor."
The oddest thing is, usually upon the very sites whose owners make such claims, there is almost always a plethora of essays and written works, authored by the same persons, each of whom insist that, in order for Gor to "survive" all Goreans must change. "Change!" advise these writers, "Quickly! Before it is too late!" In our thoroughly modern society, we are informed, we must all pitch in to soften the overall message and philosophy which we formerly practiced in most of our Gorean channels. Slaves have rights, we are told, and while this is undeniably true to a certain extent, especially upon the strictly voluntary medium of IRC, we are further told that, since submission is a gift which the submitter may take back at any time, that it would be well to respect the slaves and do what they wish, treat them as they wish to be treated, value them and nurture them and above all, give them what they want... otherwise they might all leave, and then, minus our cyber-slaves, we would not be real Goreans. Once a slave is comfortable and feels protected, we are told, he/she will have no problem in doing whatever he/she is commanded to do, as long as it does not violate the rules he/she has set down or make him/her feel uncomfortable.
On a personal note, I had always thought that someone who took back a gift was an "indian-giver" and a real jerk. In fact, if a slave of mine insisted upon holding her submission over my head like an ever-present, mute hostage, or the Sword of Damocles waiting to crash down upon me should she decide I needed correction, depending upon whether or not I acted precisely the way she wanted... I don't WANT that kind of submission. Keep it. Save it for someone who thinks they should subjugate their own will beneath the whims of their "slaves." As for me, I don't need, or want, any slave that badly. Safe words and Contracts of Submission are a necessity in real life b/d/s/m... but not on IRC, where there is never any real physical threat to either party. But I'll discuss that more at a later time.
Further, there are a lot of websites out there now advertising a kindler, gentler version of the Gorean philosophy. A few such channels are quite popular. After all, why wouldn't they be? Most of the older, stricter Gorean channels, such as the Silk&Steel, are often such gloomy and depressing places. They are, by their very nature, huge targets for ridicule and insult. After all, how dare anyone study the rules of an alien society and actually attempt to enforce them? I keep reading references to the "good old days" of Gorean IRC, and I am stumped. When were those? I have been a chanop at S&S almost since it was founded, and as I recall we were ALWAYS under attack by those who did not understand or like us. Many times we were tempted to set up a separate "gateway channel" to keep out the troublemakers, or make the entire channel invite-only... but we never caved in to such temptations. If we were actually going to attempt to be Gorean online, then we sure weren't going to hide or dodge confrontations with those who would scoff at us. Oh, sure, an HNG might join and wind up being banned, but most got the opportunity to shoot us the finger on their way out the door. Fair enough.
The Silk&Steel was, to my knowledge, the first strictly-Gorean IRC chat channel when it was founded by BearofAr (now Bear-) and Zeb. We have always been at the center of a dozen "plots" to punish us for being too Gorean, and have been under attack almost since day one. That continues to this day. I constantly read references to "the older channels, once noble, but now depraved pits of cyber-killings and kajira abuse." Huh? They can't be speaking of the S&S. As I recall, the Silk&Steel Tavern was a "No-Kill-Zone" since it was first founded, since even before the term NKZ came into general use. We at the S&S invented Gorean "cyber-killing" as a joke. Which is exactly what it is, since it doesn't really work.
As far as "kajira abuse" is concerned, keep in mind that not only did those at S&S invent the "cyber-collar" (those little marks after a slave's nick which show who her owner is...you know the ones) but we also invented the "channel collar" and, originally, the "protection collar." We disavowed the use of protection collars only when we discovered that some slaves were using "protection collars" as a license to be rude and insulting to freepersons, in effect, hiding behind the nicks and reputations of people who didn't even own them. But with or without "protection collars," we have always made it our official policy in the Silk & Steel that anyone in need of aid can immediately apply to the chanops for help.
"But what about when Master so-and-so used a branding iron to..." you begin. I shrug. We are not perfect. I might add that, YOU try being under constant attack, a target of both other people's jealousy and their scathing commentary, while simultaneously attempting to keep HNGs and cyber-sluts out of the channel. AND dodging imaginary assassination attempts. AND trying to explain that Gor is not medieval England. The task is monumental, the process maddening.
I am not unfamiliar with the workings of the English language, nor am I blind to the snide little inferences which repeatedly pop-up on Gorean pages across the web. I well understand the general feeling that the chanops of the S&S are a bunch of intolerant assholes; and it is certainly true that we have harbored such in the past, both with and without our knowledge. However, the rules of that channel, and the guidelines governing those who must enforce them, seem to me to be an excellent and very Gorean way of dealing with online people and situations. Naturally I am fond of the rules of the Silk&Steel, as I helped to write them. They are in place so that we are able to maintain control of the channel and to promote a Gorean atmosphere at all times. This enables people to learn by induction, almost via osmosis it sometimes seems. If you really want to learn how to be Gorean, then you will eventually need a place to go and practice. Silk & Steel was designed to be such a place.
It seems funny to me, yet it was completely predictable, that eventually many who wound up banned from the Silk & Steel or disagreed with our policies would attempt to completely erase the S&S from the history of IRC Gor. We were the first; it can reasonably be argued that Bear and Zeb invented Gorean IRC in its current form. Countless other IRC channels have come and gone, and yet the Silk&Steel Tavern remains. Oh, sure, we have been forced to deal with a lot of useless online feuding and the like... assorted scandals, scams, hoaxes and betrayals. But we remain, as always, a Gorean channel devoted to Gorean matters, and just as accurate to the Gor depicted in Norman's works as we can possibly make it.
I have said above that it now seems everyone is whining and complaining that "online Gor" just isn't as cool as it used to be. I disagree... in the S&S, things are pretty much the same as ever. Calmer, even, since much of the silly "power banning" and kill-macros have virtually disappeared from there. Which is a shame in a way, since we were pretty good at inventing funny ways to kick/ban people. As for as the rest of online Gor... yes, I would have to agree that a lot of it has pretty much gone right down the tubes. How can we correct this? And what was the cause?
Well... first of all, our incredible diversity has made it impossible for all of us to gather in one place and listen to one another. If we all could do that, then we might realize that most of us want, and are saying, the same things. But we are too selfish and petty for that. We only listen to someone else until they say something that we disagree with, after which we turn away, insulted. Then, for some reason, we feel compelled to rush out and register a brand new IRC channel where conflicting opinions to our own are not allowed. This is true is almost any online medium, it seems. Someone founded an excellent "Gorean Newspaper" website for open discussion. More appeared soon thereafter, and some promptly began to post scathing rebuttals to anything which appeared on the others. Bear- founded a Gorean discussion channel on AUSTnet to discuss Gorean issues and philosophy without all the trappings which so often lead to empty role-playing... and suddenly, several more such channels appeared, apparently to refute what was being said elsewhere. At this rate, everyone on Gor will eventually have his or her own website, newspaper and IRC channel, and will sit in there alone trying to find someone else who will listen to them.
Why is so much of online Gor turning to inane crap? Well, the answer is a simple one. No one out there wants to follow any rules but his or her own personal ones. The basic rules used in the Silk & Steel Tavern, which at one time were in effect in pretty much every IRC channel which claimed to be Gorean, have now been watered down and re-interpreted to a point that they have no uniformity to speak of. And what has this alteration of those basic Gorean rules accomplished?
The S&S does not allow slaves to be chanops, even via a bot, since it was felt that if a slave held such power it could interfere with her ability to experience her total Gorean submission. A wise rule, or an oppressive one?
You decide. Several weeks ago one of the founding fathers of Gorean IRC wound up being g-lined, by a "slave," from an entire IRC network for behaving in a manner which several "Goreans" on that particular net found abusive and disrespectful. I am aware the slave in question, an IRCop, felt she was doing her duty at the time. I add that I no longer visit that network lest I wind up g-lined in a similar fashion for acting too Gorean. I recently read the quotation "Beware a slave with power." I disagree. There is no such thing. A "slave" with the power to assault freepersons, and who actively uses such power, is not, by any Gorean definition, a slave. That person is simply a freeperson clad in the trappings of a slave. It is a difficult proposition to simulate "slavery" in a fully consensual environment like IRC, and when slaves not only have the power to log off at will, but also have the power to subject free persons to their own will, then the delicate illusion is shattered. And what of the "slave" who, due to her real life responsibilities, is required to wield such power? Does she allow her quest for submission to interfere with her duties and responsibilities outside of Gor? The ramifications of such a matter are staggering, and can subject such a slave to unimaginable pressures. As I have said in the past, why would any slave want to be put in such a difficult position?
The S&S does not allow tavern guests to participate in mock-killings while visiting the channel, and has never allowed it. Spoil sports, aren't we?
I dunno. Last thing I heard, half of Gor had been assassinated by the other half, and was in the process of returning from the dead and planning an offensive counter-strike. Don't ask me... I have no idea how this particular game works.
The S&S permits any freeperson to punish any kajira or kajirus at any time, if they are found unpleasing. A fair rule, or an invitation for abuse?
Who can say? What goes on in any channel is the domain of the chanops. I add that we have yet to have an incident wherein a freeperson was successfully attacked or kicked out of channel by a slave, that most of the gossip and vicious rumor which frequents the channel, borne by slaves, stays in private message lest any freeperson be offended, and that our "slaves" are pretty polite and deferential to freepersons as a general rule in the tavern. The way that slaves are supposed to be.
To sum up, I would like to say that, although it grieves me to see so many people, Goreans, out there, embroiled in turmoil because of the chaos which is now the mainstay of so much of Gorean IRC, I cannot feel too sorry for them. They were warned. Having made their collective bed, I suppose they should have to lay in it... unless they can set their petty differences aside and return to "the good old days" when we all acknowledged the rules of Gorean society set down in the books themselves, and attempted to maintain the spirit of Gor in our "Gorean" IRC channels.
I will not say "I told you so," although some might claim that would be a very "Silk & Steel" thing to say. ; )