From: BoDee
Date: Thu Oct 25, 2001 7:45 pm
Subject: Conscience of the King

"The play ’s the thing, Wherein I ’ll catch the conscience of the king."
William Shakespeare (1564–1616)Hamlet. Act ii. Sc. 2

Let me preface this with a few quick thoughts: The recent thread "What has happened ..." (#64419 on the Yahoo RLS EList) really got me to thinking about some things.

1- The really juicy stuff is way down there, (points to bottom of post), so if you are just scanning this just scroll on down ... LOL!

2- When I first came to the List I was known as Parsimony. I lurked mostly, but eventually posted a few posts which were, by and large unremarkable. In Chat peeps were polite, but frankly I wasn't exactly on anyones Top Ten List ... LOL! I can soooo relate to accounts of feeling left out and not part of cliques. Meeting Rick at that point was only a dream. In the end, I took a long look not at others but myself, and in doing so realized that my posts and my chats were stiff, non genuine to who I was and terribly bland. In trying to be liked by everyone I ended up
not making much of an impression. So I reinvented myself and vowed to speak my mind, relax, have fun, and not to worry about what anyone thought. It was only then that I found myself in "BoDee" and felt like I truly belonged.

3- While I value my sense of humor I am at my heart a Skeptic, meaning that I value logic and critical thinking above all else, (Go here to learn more about the modern skeptic movement). That is not to say that I am a Cynic … quite the opposite. The more RLS Sisters and Brothers I meet, the more I am struck by the boundless generosity, joy and sheer intelligence that seems to define you Knuckleheads!

4- Each of us here speaks on absolute equal footing with no one person better then, or less then anyone else. That is why I love it. Just because I have a website gives no greater significance to my thoughts. Therefore your opinion on this and other matters is of great importance to our community, be you a seasoned Lister or a Newbie. To this end I ask only that if you choose to respond to this post, please do so publicly and thoughtfully.

This is the part where you say, "Uhhhhh, BoDee does this drivel have a point"?

Yes, I want to address something that IMHO, has led to some people, (especially the Newbies), on this list feeling disenfranchised and alienated. It is all to easy sometimes to point the finger at what we may perceive as "Cliques" or "Insiders" to explain away problems, but in truth it is not that simple. Many on this List over time have developed close relationships, and in time become fast friends. Yes, they meet at Rick concerts which is their point of contact, but I have always experienced these as very open ended affairs which easily include newcomers. Many enjoy "inside jokes" afterward that stem from these meetings and chide each other in chat, the Forum, and here. I have heard more the one person complain that these "inside jokes" make them feel excluded, ... (except when it is they who begin telling them ... neh?). Sometimes these circle of friends have the opportunity of meeting Rick. My personal experience has been that once this happens there is almost an immediate backlash effect whereby questions arise as to how that particular group accomplished this and they become defined as an "Insider Clique". Go back and reread some of the posts to this effect and you will see that this pattern has played out multiple times on this List. IMHO some of the real source for this anger and frustration arises from negative experiences with opportunists with ulterior motives, hidden agendas, and innocent peeps being misled by others in the quest to meet Rick. I am not out to point the finger at
any one person or group, only to comment on a scenario I have seen played out again and again. One that operates under the guise of charity & goodwill and leaves innocent people feeling used and forgotten.


Initially, when I joined the RLS Community, I too considered many of the "benevolent" efforts by particular organized groups or individuals to be quite sincere until I saw ultimately who ended up repeatedly being the benefactor. Often cloaked as "Selfless acts" implying that contributors might gain some favor and recognition, these repeated unsanctioned solicitations for $$$ to buy gifts or tributes, and Independent "Charitable" drives are simply intended to showcase the person organizing them and nothing more. Get enough peeps to contribute money, buy a gift or make a sizable donation to charity, promise a list of donors names to be seen by the right people and then show up to be "The One" to deliver it. To the uninitiated observer, these orchestrated efforts do appear philanthropic, but when you look deeper into some of these schemes they are sadly constructed to serve only the Name Recognition of one person or group who is looking to hop onto a set of coattails to get backstage to Rick. Seriously think about it, there are plenty of Official venues to contribute to Rick's charities, (through the Fan Club, EList, Rick's Website), without all of the Unofficial Raffles or One person's own personal mini-pledge drive, but these self styled "Saints" would not have their names attached to that now would they? When the scheme involves alot of $$$$ given to someone or a group not affiliated with an accountable organization like RLS Fan Club, there are serious questions the arise in my mind as to exactly how those funds are handled and distributed. In the absence of a reliable check and balance system, (and a Spreadsheet does not suffice in this regard as they can be manipulated), what assurance do you have that your contribution ever sees the light of day?

This is sheer speculation on my part but I feel confident that Rick and the people who work with him are sometimes put in the embarrassing and awkward position of having to deal with this and are put at risk for looking ungracious if they even question the motives behind it. Deep down one has to wonder if the person/organization behind all of his "Goodwill" were to agree to do so anonymously whether the totals or scope of the gifts would be markedly different or diminished.

Clink, Clink! Well theres my 2 cents !

Funhouse Free Thought News Travel Art Op-Ed Photos Blog Rick Links