Find the Cost of Freedom

By A Concerned Gorean

"Find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground. Mother Earth will swallow you, lay your bodies down."

In the summer of 1969, an almost totally unknown foursome would present these words to public audiences for the first time. It was the "Summer of Love", the apex of years of counter-cultural protest against government policies and worldwide conflict. It was also the onset of the decline of the Cold War, suspicion and fear of communism still cresting over democratic nations, who attempted to suppress such factions in an effort to preserve freedom on a global scale.

The cost of that freedom was inestimable; tens of thousands of young men laid down their lives, paying the price for something they believed to be worth saving. Echoes of this era resound with us today, as additional tens of thousands more risk the ultimate sacrifice in the Middle East.

Most of us today, involved in some way in the Gorean lifestyle, do not really remember those days in August of 1969. We have not, in many cases, been faced with any personal inner conflict of what the cost of our freedom may be, or who may be called upon to pay it. Perhaps it is time for we, as Goreans, to give some due consideration to the matter and how it may affect us, our actions, and our perceptions of what price may eventually demand remittance.

"Find the cost of freedom"

If one pauses for a few brief moments and attempts to determine the relevance of this idea in Gorean context, a few concepts may present themselves. What is the cost of freedom, in a Gorean sense? Is there ay price - any expectations - for those who claim to be Gorean, and Free?

It is the belief of this writer that with freedom comes both certain rights and responsibilities. In parallel, to those of us living in the United States, the founding fathers associated certain rights and responsibilities to the freedom associated with citizenship in the nation. With freedom came the right to participate in government, the privilege of a voice in the determination of the direction in which the country might go, and the responsibility to act upon those rights - not take them for granted. They also noted the responsibility of those gaining such freedom to stand and defend it, and preserve it for future generations.

Do the same rights and responsibilities attach to the concept of Gorean freedom, or is it simply a much-touted concept spoken with no onus attached to it? It has become quite common, in the course of the past ten years, to look around and see many who claim the privileges and status of Gorean freedom, but who refuse to trouble themselves in any fashion to see that its meaning - the rights and responsibilities - is upheld. Nor has there been any effort shown to remind others of such obligations, no consolidated unification of those holding to those responsibilities to speak up in the face of the moral lassitude which has seemingly overtaken Gorean thought on Earth.

What good is freedom, if it is not used to protect and defend what one holds to be of highest value? If an individual sidesteps the responsibilities inherent in freedom, it logically follows that their claims to such freeom ring hollow, and the value such individuals place upon their freedom is therefore suspect.

There are many, over the years, who have chosen to lead an insular, elitist existence, claiming the highest respect for Gorean values and freedom, yet unwilling to stand and defend what they claim to hold dear. Such hypocrisy has caused a wave of uncaring stultification to sweep over the Gorean community, followed by waves of silence; tacit acceptance and allowance of the weakening and dilution of Gorean thought and philosophy. The majority of the remaining visible proponents of Gorean thought are the weak, who lack even the basic understandings of Gorean thought, who mouth the words without possessing the inner fortitude to live up to a word they claim. They make public mockery of the freedom supposedly held dear by those others who refuse to stand and defend it.

"Find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground."

Is this the future of the Gorean community? Are the values fought for and once proudly claimed to be condemned to lie in a shallow grave, as the stench of the pervasive rot which has taken root over the years continues to consume us? Are there so few left who will stand and accept their responsibilities that soon they, too, will vanish, casualties of the ennervation which has very nearly allowed Gorean thought on Earth - once strongly and proudly defended against all who attempted to weaken and destroy it - to teeter on the brink of extinction? Are we to be victims of our own hubris, because we have forgotten the cost of the freedom we claim?

"Mother Earth will swallow you, lay your bodies down."

If a stand is not made - if strong proponents willing and able to rise and defend Gorean thought continue to refuse to accept the cost of the freedom they claim - those who have sought for years to weaken Gorean values will win, and nothing will remain except the shame brought on by inactivity, and the wound in the Earth where Gorean freedom perished, and was buried.

Who Will Defend Us Against Ourselves?

By Bengal

"I suddenly realized the supreme power of the united Gorean will, not divided against itself, not weak, not crippled like the wills of earth. I felt a surge of power, of unprecedented, unexpected joy. I had discovered what it was to be Gorean. I had discovered what is was, truly, to be male, to be a man. I was Gorean."
- Page 290 Marauders of Gor

Norman, of course, in context is speaking of Tarl Cabot as he realizes that he has changed since the time he was enslaved in the delta of the Vosk. You can feel the passion and emotion of his words. Indeed with Ivar Forkbeard and others in Torvaldsland Tarl learned a great deal about himself and about what it meant to be Gorean.

With that said we can look at the quote in a similar context that relates to something more Earthly. After all, Tarl himself makes the comparison in the quote.

"For a man to be great, had said Ivar Forkbeard, he must need great enemies. I looked at the huge, somber, shaggy head of the Kur, mounted on its stake, some eight feet from the ground. I wondered if men, truly, knew how great their enemies were." - Page 280 Marauders of Gor

I wonder if Tarl was still speaking of the Kurii or if perhaps something more? I think Tarl had faced the enemy within himself and had won this time.

As I look around both online and offline I see the Gorean community (and I use that term very loosely) divided against itself. Even in the greatest of joint ventures when a group of men get together in order so that others might see and be part of that great united Gorean will, the result seems most often to be failure. How then, if we cannot unite in spirit and in will to defend what we believe in and the way in which we live, can we expect to defend ourselves against the naysayers? We are called misogynists, barbarians, cultists, chauvinistic, Neanderthal men and I'm sure much worse.

We are compared to the likes of serial rapists, kidnappers and murderers. And all the while we're busy arguing amidst ourselves about the most trivial matters while instead we ought to be developing unity so that we can show others, as a united front that we are none of these things, but instead that we are leaders, warriors, builders, and above all else - Men.

It is the division within us that weakens us as both individuals and as a community.

"On his own worlds, in a sense, man had no natural enemies, save perhaps himself." -Page 280 Marauders of Gor

Woman - do you know what you are?

Signe

As a woman, the first thing you are confronted with in the Gorean community is "Do you know what you are?" There's the more primitive version, which is "Are you free or slave?" and there's the more subtle and undefined version, which is "Do you know yourself and your place in life?"

Many do not get past the primitive version. They believe that if you like men looking at your typed words and want confirmation that way, you are slave. And if you don't admit to liking it, but still find the whole Gorean thing thrilling, you are free. Often, naturally, these people will bounce back and forth between the two (whether it's official or not), because they have completely missed the second part and have no perception of the depth of "know yourself" in a Gorean perspective.

I see women fighting to grasp the second version. I see some succeed, I see a lot fail and give up or never realizing there's more. It is disheartening, because they miss the opportunity again and again to actually grow and develop as women in this community. There are many reasons for this - the most visible one being that they seek a cheap thrill with no ramifications online. They cheat themselves by not actually going whole-heartedly into this. They cheat themselves of a fantastic (but also exhausting) journey of self-realization.

I'm no expert by all means, and I am still just starting the journey myself, but I urge you to have a look at yourself. Read Norman's books or the ones you can get hold of, consider more than just the slave/free questions and the fascination they create. Take a step further, consider your potential, dreams, wants and needs, put it in relation to yourself as a woman and grow - and you will find your place.

Paranoia or Precaution: Living on the Planet Earth

By Jason

Some parts of Earth have a welcoming mindset. Not like Gor where the word for enemy is the word for foreigner also.

I took a walk with a fellow Gorean last week and he was of the opinion that this open-armed embrace was healthy. He said distrust of strangers was something from Gor that he did not wish to employ in life.

It should not surprise you readers that he called himself a lifestyler like Gor was something he did on the weekends when his girlfriend was away and not a way of life.

I see that there are men among us that do not adopt all Gorean practices. This is well because we are on Earth and not on Gor. There are times when we will be obligated to bend and flex our ways around the ways of the world that is our dwelling place.

But fellows, I do not believe this case is one of those times.

At first the welcoming manner of so many Earthlings seems to be goodness of spirit and the foreigner fearing ways of Gor to be paranoia.

But turn on the television, fellow Goreans.

What do you see?

If you flip channels you will see an infomercial you will order from only once if you are not a fool, silly women hawking ugly clothes and jewelry to other women, poorly dressed evangelists begging for cash they never earn or selling poorly bound books.

Turn on the news and you will hear of terrorists and money grabbing scams when the poorly dressed evangelists get caught or some other loser who tried to get rich without work.

What of Enron? What of Martha Stewart? What of Tyco? Who can you trust?

You! Those who you know and love!

is sad that many people do not like this for it would be of help to them.>

North America and Europe are the main areas which I speak of in this article. They are the ones with the widest embraces and are in danger from within because of their attitudes.

How else do you think the causes of feminism leaked into and poisoned the governmental systems if not through the loving embrace of willing countries?

European and American feminists influenced each other!

This should be warning enough that some plagues spread swiftly overseas

How did the system of paganism that calls women womyn so that they may deny their dependency on men sneak past our borders?

Strangers and strange ideas that would have starved without globalization infested parts of our world that were once primed for Gorean living.

It is strange that the feminist movement happened when John Lange himself was writing. Maybe that is why he wrote the Gor novels. Maybe he wrote them as a warning so that nature would not forget the ways of rightness. I think he thought of himself as a messenger to humanity because he knew how good humans are at fooling themselves.

We who call ourselves Goreans have received his message and seen the facts in it.

His wisdom does not end with this. No. In his time he could not write the truth about feminism in nonfiction so he wrote it in novels. He was blacklisted still but now that is over.

The world was fooled by foreign thoughts and desires but he and his fans were not. They understood how foreigners could be when the 'civilized world' was too drunk on Ka-la-na wine of acceptance.

While it was drunk someone came in and stole their Home Stone that is their principles.

But it will return because there are people out there like us calling bullshit on those who preach the usurping of human nature.

How soon will the right way of living be back where it belongs, at the center of society?

That is a hard question. The liberals that scream and wail at the doors of governments around the world do their level best to keep it from happening!

When reasonable men hold all the seats of power the battle that John Lange began with his books will end. Until then what is a Gorean to do besides vote reasonable men into office and use our rights as citizens when it is well and fitting that we do so?

We must know that nature takes its course and be as joyful as life permits!

But do not forget to keep your guard up. You are the few who have not.