Refining terms (was; Re: [Mid] Re: Peerages)

Nicolaa de Bracton writes:
>
>>1. You say "Leader"; I say "Exemplar." The first, anyone can do. The
>>second, a peer MUST do to maintain that status.
>
>I would agree with you, actually. Exemplar is a better term, because it
>doesn't necessarily imply active leadership. Some folks lead best just by
>being.
>

Not that one wishes to supress "the need to lead", but remove the
requirement, and perhaps the burn-out rate will drop. (Several miss-guided
pelicans in the EK had the idea that the peerage alone made them leaders.
They then complained that no one was following. Leamings anyone?)

>>2. You say "Elevated" and "Achieved." If someone is already at the top
>>(as we would assume that there is not but God or BOD higher than the
>>peers,) then how can they be "elevated" or moved any higher? If we go back
>>to the "achieved" term, then it makes the "having attained a level of
>>effort and performance on par with the ideal of an SCA Exemplar" a more
>>plausable claim.
>
>The problem is that in our system, to achieve a peerage you have to be
>elevated by someone. Perhaps the word for what the Royalty do is to
>"recognize" rather than to "elevate."

Permit me to be disagreeable once more. The fact that what is happening in
the ceremony is a public declaration of admission of a new member to a
specific group or clique. Though the current crown may occassionaly act of
its own volition, more commonly it is acting on behalf of others (the
orders, if you will) to aclaim the "achievement" of the new member. The
recognition (of the achievement) is followed by the public declaration (by
the court.) ("By the power invested in me by my right arm, I dub thee...")

>
>(Of course, on a picky Order of Precedence kind of level, your rank is
>elevated when you're admitted to a Peerage order. To me, that's nice, but I
>think the nicer feeling is the simple recognition by a lot of people I have
>a great deal of respect for. Getting used to being an exemplar yourself
>when you're still somewhat in awe of the other exemplars can be a challenge
>:-)
>
>

If there were special priveleges (aside from marching position, and
specific regailia) associated with the OP, then I would agree. However,
when was the last time you elected a king, or for that matter, a great
officer of state. (Other organizations grant voting priveleges, ect. for
ranking members.)

However, don't let this lack of substantial peerage perks detract from the
respect you receive as an Exemplar, for that is freely given (and not paid)
unto the worthy by others, whether Exemplar or not. No matter what ones
place in the OP might be, all should subcribe to the Code of the SCA (if
one did exist.)

To that end, here is a small selection from _Writings on the Wind_:

_________

So, Anda, you consider now the conflict between the acts of and the
trappings of the assorted peoples we meet. A crown does not make a man
regal, nor does rags make him a beggar. Was it not the command of Harun
al-Rashid to his son, that to be a leader, he must "look into mens hearts?"
Kindness, charity, and nobility come from within a man, not from his
regalia.

_________
(_Writings on the Wind_, The Unwritten Yasa of the Great Dark Horde, by Dur
T. Nasty)

salaam, durr al-jabal al-mukhfi

PS: Who was the young man (apprentice?) you sent to my camp this Pennsic
past, Nicolaa? I merely told him the story of The Three Peers, and he
didn't even wait for tea. I felt that I had failed to accord him
sufficient hospitality, for which I apologize.

================================================================
D. E. Walter mailto:durr.al-jabal@iname.com Member # 02933
(Formerly, Smokey the) Baron Dur of Hidden Mountain
durr al-jabal al-mukhfi abu niifa ben durrah sultan al-Tabl
Orluk Oasis on the War Road of Aethelmarc
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From: durr al-jabal <durr.al-jabal@iname.com>
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Received on Sat Jan 17 20:37:34 1998