This is moved from a posting in the CARE group. It is intended to address several problems which have been highlighted in these forum discussions or in inworld conversations I have had with other citizens.
However, I will observe that this whole mess about CARE being organizedin an unconstitutional way -- along with the mess concerning the Judiciary Act -- are both symptomatic of serious problems with new-comer aggressiveness. The CDS is an open community -- and an inviting one. However, it is also a longstanding one, with its own history, networks of relationships, and developed ethos. It is unwise and harmful for newcomers to come in and do what they want before they have integrated themselves into the community, learning at a minimum the social rules that govern their political goals. We should not create a second-class citizen status for newcomers -- but, at the same time, newcomers should act with proper circumspection and not make bold moves before they have learned the lay of the land. Unnecessary tensions, even hostilities, even feelings of exploitation, result if newcomers do too much too soon with too little information.
However, the fault here does not just rest with newcomers. I have found that I had to make noise and draw attention to myself to receive the attention of longtime residents who could show me the lay of the land. I have spoken to several other newcomers who have not made nuisances of themselves, and they have said that they feel rather neglected -- left unregarded in their lonely houses. We can and should do better than this. We need a process to draw the community together inworld -- at publicized social meetings without a political agenda that forces the kind of debate that turns many people off.
The Simplicity Party has proposed that we plan sim-specific social calendars based on sim theme. I think that the activities we would schedule through such a process are just what the doctor ordered.
Beathan
