A lesson in Gamma

So, this would have appeared to come out of the blue to everyone on Gab yesterday.

Allen Ayler@PseudoCrusader
@voxday You follow just 32 people. Must be your egotistical self importance.

Vox Day@voxday
Very foolish, Allen. I was going to leave our email exchange private, but I’ll go ahead and publish it on Alpha Game now.

It is a powerful lesson in not permitting Gammas in your project.

As a general rule, I don’t expose people who email me, whether they are readers, critics, or even hatemailers. But sometimes, it is beneficial to do so, in order to provide an object lesson to those who believe that they can behave abusively with impunity, particularly in cases where there is a deeper lesson to be learned. And it’s never a bad thing to remind people, from time to time, that picking a fight with someone whose friends and allies call him “Supreme Dark Lord” is probably not a wise thing to do.

But before you think I am attempting to rationalize a violation of privacy, please be aware that he has publicly requested that I post it: “Please post my email so people can know how full of shit you are.” Also, on Gab: “Post the fucking email you hypocrite self-deluded asshole.”

One of the challenges of running any organization, be it professional or volunteer, is dealing with the quirks of the various members, most of which are based on their socio-sexual status. Alphas are going to have inappropriate affairs, Betas are going to get promoted over their heads, Lambdas are going to talk relentlessly, and inappropriately, about their personal predilections and social lives, Gammas are going to preen, posture, pout, and occasionally sabotage projects and people, Sigmas are going to create the occasional intra-organizational upheaval, for good or ill, and Omegas are going to get themselves accused of sexual harassment.

That’s all normal. You have to expect it as long as you’re going to work with human beings. The key is learning to anticipate the problems and head them off at the pass. Don’t let the Alpha hire a hot secretary, or at the very least, be sure she isn’t married. Keep the Beta in a well-paid supporting position and give him a young subordinate Alpha to help him make decisions. Put the Lambda near the women where he’ll entertain them. Try to steer the Sigma’s idiosyncracies in a direction where he’ll help the organization rather than harm it. Give the Gammas tasks that flatter their egos and keep them far away from any managerial responsibilities. Stash the Omegas where they can’t creep out the women. Keep everybody out of the way of the Deltas who actually do most of the meaningful work.

Anyhow, this exchange took place two days ago. I would have let it go, except the Gamma concerned simply couldn’t resist taking it public. Gammas, as Delta Man has repeatedly pointed out, not only sabotage others, they also tend to sabotage themselves. But I have seldom seen a Gamma sabotage himself so thoroughly as Mr. Ayler managed to do when attempting to volunteer to “help” Infogalactic.

I’m not saying there was anything wrong with his desire to know what was going on. Nor am I defending my failure to respond to him in a timely manner. But, as you’ll see, my initial impression that there was something off about him proved to be correct. In spades.