Cail Corishev observes the fundamental difference between the Sad Puppies and the Rabid Puppies this year:
Nice Guys believe that A) SJWs can learn, and B) compromise with them is possible.
When the downtrodden, outnumbered Hero finally gets the upper hand, he’s supposed to nobly offer a truce to his Enemy. His Enemy will be so impressed by his fortitude and nobility that he will gain a new respect for the Hero, and they will forge a new, better understanding based on mutual respect. Everyone lives happily ever after. Think of all the fantasy stories and buddy movies that are based on that kind of reversal.
So now that Vox has the SJWs on the ropes, he’s supposed to back away and offer them a draw, and they’re supposed to be so relieved and impressed that they turn over a new leaf. Then everyone can get along and just focus on good writing.
But as Corwin said to Borel outside the Courts of Chaos, this isn’t the Olympic Games. If the Hero offers a truce, his Enemy will only use that to prepare another attack on him — probably a knife in the back. The Hero has no choice but to carry the battle until it’s over and the Enemy is entirely vanquished (sometimes in the stories he learns this after multiple attempts at a truce fail). Nice Guys have a very hard time accepting that.
Apparently Aristotle was not a Nice Guy:
“Before some audiences not even the possession of the exactest knowledge will make it easy for what we say to produce conviction. For argument based on knowledge implies instruction, and there are people whom one cannot instruct.”
Recall what numerous Gammas have told us is the core of the Gamma male: the relentless ability to lie to himself in order to make himself feel better. This means SJWs cannot learn and they cannot compromise. Any information, any evidence, that is laid before him will be immediately discounted and disqualified if it creates badfeels. Even if he accepts a ceasefire because he has been sufficiently defeated or frightened, he will learn nothing from the experience and will return to the attack as soon as doing so will make him feel better.
Scalzi is instructive in his regard. Hostilities went dormant after the 2005 exchange once I offered to review Old Man’s War and gave it a positive review. (Gamma goodfeels.) Then in 2010, when I criticized Scalzi’s most popular post ever, the idiotic “Easiest Difficulty Setting” post, (Gamma badfeels) hostilities were immediately revived and led quickly to all the RSHD accusations, the attacks on the readers here, the Guardian plot, and so forth. No learning ever took place. The hostility was there all along, it was merely in the Gamma’s interest to conceal it for a while.
Sad Puppies 3 failed in its primary objective because the objective was an impossible one stemming from a failure to apply the first half of Sun Tzu’s dictum: know your enemy. Rabid Puppies has succeeded to date, and will continue to succeed, because we apply both halves of the dictum: know your enemy and know yourself.
We do ourselves no favors by dismissing the enemy as idiots. Many are, but some are not. The SJWs will win some battles, they will succeed in discrediting or marginalizing or intimidating some of us. Puppies will burn out and drop out over time. And when we take hits, when we take damage, that is when we will find out who we really are and if we really know ourselves. Now, it’s absolutely fine if you’re not in this for the long haul. We have a need and a place for short-term shock troops. There is no shame in such status and you will have nothing but the gratitude of those of us who will remain on the field. Should you wish to return to the fight in the future, we will gladly welcome back the well-rested veterans of past battles.
But it’s important for each Rabid Puppy, each member of the Dread Ilk, to decide if you’re in it for a battle, a campaign, or a war. (The Vile Faceless Minions of the Evil Legion of Evil don’t need to decide anything, obviously, their Supreme Dark Lord doesn’t not-pay them to think, he not-pays them to rend SJWs limb-from-limb and devour them.) You don’t need to do anything or say anything, you just need to know exactly who you are.
As for me, you know who I am. And you know where I’ll be.
On a tangential note, M raises a good point about coordinating for Worldcon in August. I’ll leave the discussion to those thinking about attending, but feel free to make initial contacts and discuss ideas in the comments.
I live in Vancouver and am considering attending Sasquan to help support the sad/rabid puppies initiative with a physical presence at the event. Even though I’m on the west coast it would still be expensive getting there with accommodations and everything by myself. I’m hoping to connect with others in my area who would be interested in upgrading their membership and splitting travel and accommodation costs. If you know of anywhere that people like me can go to connect with each other and try and make arrangements please let me know. Otherwise perhaps we should try and put the word out to everyone and direct them to a facebook group or something to organize? I think it’s important we have a good amount of supporters at the event.