{"id":10357,"date":"2015-12-30T08:00:16","date_gmt":"2015-12-30T15:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/?p=10357"},"modified":"2015-12-31T14:46:45","modified_gmt":"2015-12-31T21:46:45","slug":"response-to-steve-davidson-on-reconciling-with-the-puppies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/response-to-steve-davidson-on-reconciling-with-the-puppies\/","title":{"rendered":"Response to Steve Davidson on Reconciling with the Puppies"},"content":{"rendered":"

So my last blog post<\/a> about the Sad Puppies has turned into a kerfluffle of its own, which has been very interesting to watch as it unfolds. Mike Glyer of File 770<\/a> linked to it, Lou Antonelli’s File 666<\/a> picked it up, and Steve Davidson of Amazing Stories wrote a lengthy response to it<\/a>,\u00a0which I think\u00a0is deserving of a response on my part.<\/p>\n

Mr. Davidson’s post is interesting, and worth reading. We obviously don’t see eye to eye on a number of things, but it would be rather petty to go through our disagreements\u00a0line by line. Instead, the part that I want to respond to is his\u00a0call to action at the end:<\/p>\n

Want to reconcile? \u00a0Here\u2019s what puppies must do.<\/p>\n

1: Stop scamming the system. \u00a0If you want to recommend works that you think are worthy of the award, go ahead and do so. \u00a0But drop the political agenda (you\u2019re dragons are imaginary) and eliminate the hateful, snarky commentary<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you’re looking for “hateful, snarky commentary,” I’m sure that you’ll be able to find it.\u00a0On the fringes of both sides, there are a lot of people with blogs and strong opinions. I’d count myself as one of them\u2014while I align with the Sad Puppies, I’m not a leader or organizer\u00a0by any stretch, just another guy with opinions and a blog.\u00a0Don’t be so quick to look for ammunition, because there’s a lot of it lying around.<\/p>\n

Kate Paulk, one of the Sad Puppy organizers, has pointed out that Sad Puppies 4 is open to nomination suggestions from anyone, which appears to be what you’re calling for. And honestly, I think a lot of us don’t want to see conservative writers edge out everyone else so much as to see them go head to head with more liberal writers on a more equal playing field. It’s not about slaying imaginary dragons so much as breaking down walls.<\/p>\n

So on this first point,\u00a0Mr. Davidson and I tend to be in agreement. This seems like a reasonable\u00a0step for reconciliation, and it’s one that the Sad Puppies 4 already appear to be taking.<\/p>\n

2: Stop attacking the very people who are offering you a bridge<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If a bridge is being offered, I’m willing to take it. If people are just trying to get the last word in edgewise, which was the vibe I personally got from Mr. Martin’s original post<\/a>, then it will probably just lead to more kerfluffles. Then again, if everyone’s fighting\u00a0to get in the last word, the squabbling will never end, and while that may make for good sport, it makes for poor reconciliation. So again, fair point.<\/p>\n

3: Please learn a little bit about the history of Worldcon and the Hugo Awards<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m not entirely convinced that\u00a0the Hugo Awards will\u00a0continue to hold the same influential place\u00a0in fandom in the next few years. Even with last year’s massive turnout, there were less than 6,000 ballots cast. With those low numbers, it wouldn’t take much for a rival convention to organize their own\u00a0awards and eclipse the Hugos in short order\u2014especially if a large contingent of fandom becomes\u00a0disaffected.<\/p>\n

This is why I think it’s important to distinguish between the Sad Puppies and the Rabid Puppies. A useful analogy can be drawn from Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>These are the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za<\/a>. They want to make the galaxy safe by enslaving all intelligent life, either by encasing their home\u00a0worlds in impenetrable slave shields, or by enlisting\u00a0them as Heirarchy battle thralls to conquer and enslave other\u00a0species.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>These are the Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah<\/a>. They want to make the galaxy safe by “cleansing,” or\u00a0exterminating, all intelligent life. They are totally without mercy and cannot be pacified.<\/p>\n

The Kzer-Za and Kohr-Ah are locked in a civil war over control of the Sa-Matra<\/a>, an ancient precursor weapon that will enable\u00a0the victor\u00a0to conquer the galaxy. If you don’t find a way to stop them in time, then the Kohr-Ah will win the civil war and use the Sa-Matra to exterminate everyone.<\/p>\n

The Sad Puppies are like the Kzer-Za, the Rabid Puppies are like the Kohr-Ah, and the Hugo Awards are like the Sa-Matra. The Rabid Puppies want to use\u00a0the Hugo Awards to burn down the fan community, whereas the Sad Puppies want to reform the\u00a0Hugo Awards to make Science Fiction\u00a0less about political correctness and more about telling good stories.<\/p>\n

Now, I am not a Sad Puppy spokesperson, so this may not be the most accurate or flattering analogy. Fellow\u00a0puppies, please correct me if I’m wrong. But it’s worth pointing out that in the Star Control series,\u00a0the Ur-Quan ultimately become pacified and join\u00a0the New Alliance of Free Stars<\/a>.\u00a0This only happens after the Kohr-Ah have been defeated.<\/p>\n

I think that’s what most of the Sad Puppies ultimately want: to\u00a0have a place with the rest of fandom, where even if we sometimes\u00a0have heated disagreements\u00a0(has there ever been a time when all of fandom was in agreement about\u00a0anything?<\/em>), we aren’t cast out\u00a0as “racists,” “Nazis,” or “misogynists,” as happened with Puppygate 2015.<\/p>\n

The Rabid Puppies, on the other hand, just want to watch the world\u00a0burn. And the more vociferous\u00a0the\u00a0rhetoric becomes, the more that it\u00a0plays into their hands. Speaking as a Sad Puppy sympathizer who watched the 2015 Hugos from the sidelines, after all the abuse that\u00a0I saw my friends receive, it kind of made me want to burn down the Hugos too.<\/p>\n

You want to defeat the Rabids? Then reach out to the Sad Puppies, find commonalities with us, and make an alliance. If we can show the world that Science Fiction and Fantasy brings us all together in spite of our ideological\u00a0differences, then\u00a0all\u00a0of fandom\u00a0will win.<\/p>\n

And so regarding Mr. Davidson’s third point, I don’t think it’s about respecting the prestige of the awards so much as listening to and understanding the other side of fandom. And I’ll admit, I can do a better job listening to the side of fandom that sees the puppies (sad or\u00a0rabid) as the enemy. If they can return the favor, I think that will go a long way.<\/p>\n

4: If you want to be counted as Fans, then be Fans. \u00a0Fans who care attend Worldcon, nominate their conscience and attend the business meeting to effect change they think is needed. \u00a0They work WITH and within fandom \u2013 they do not set themselves up as a cabal that engages in fear and hate.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If that’s a challenge to be more involved in the Hugo Awards, then it’s one that I can accept. In 2015, I largely watched from the sidelines, and if I do the same this year then my opinion is pretty empty. I do count myself as a part of fandom, and I can respect the call to put my money where my mouth is.<\/p>\n

I’m not entirely convinced that “no one controls [the Hugos].” Overtly, of course not, but there are\u00a0indirect ways to accomplish the same thing, through whisper campaigns and the manipulation of cliques. But as Mr. Davidson points out, it’s hypocritical to criticize that without also trying to get involved. And if that’s the invitation he’s extending, I am willing to accept\u2014no hate required.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So my last blog post about the Sad Puppies has turned into a kerfluffle of its own, which has been very interesting to watch as it unfolds. Mike Glyer of File 770 linked to it, Lou Antonelli’s File 666 picked it up, and Steve Davidson of Amazing Stories wrote a lengthy response to it,\u00a0which I… Continue reading Response to Steve Davidson on Reconciling with the Puppies<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Response to Steve Davidson on Reconciling with the Puppies #SadPuppies #HugoAwards","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[1030,567,414,992,1031],"class_list":["post-10357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-2016-hugos","tag-hugo-awards","tag-politics","tag-sad-puppies","tag-steve-davidson","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7iXK-2H3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10357"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10363,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10357\/revisions\/10363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}