A Hypocritical Point of Philosophy
   By Javlynn

Any time a person reads a story, be it a short story or a series of books like the novels of John Norman, there is often a hidden meaning that can only be ascertained by reading the collective works and taking them in the context they are presented.

Reading the John Norman books literally, may or may not be a good thing, depending on the opinions of the person doing the reading. I know there are those out there that will cast you into the pit of "Disney Gor" or "Playtime Gor" if you do not take every word that is written as an exact truth. Others take what is written and interpret the words, coming up with their own brand of Gor. These two factions tend to castigate each other relentlessly; almost to the point that you would never believe they are part of the same ethos.

Setting this issue aside, as that is a whole different argument, this posting chooses to deal with what is not actually written, but is in fact clearly there for any to see if they look hard enough.... that is the authors comparison of the two worlds, earth and Gor, from an almost hypocritical point of view. Why do I use that word? It is my assertion that what the author tells us so clearly in the books again and again, when taken as a whole and compared to our life’s experiences, speaks almost parenthetically about the real actions of the two worlds and how mankind on the two worlds are treated. He is trying to tell us that what we read sometimes is not reality, but actually words that are veiled in subtle ideals and values.

I will start my argument by framing a few thoughts, followed by a conclusion based on these arguments. As a helpful exercise it might be interesting to agree or not agree with these thoughts as they are presented, and consider this when you read the conclusion.

Thought 1. Gor is presented by the author as a savage world; far more savage that earth, far more brutal in its very nature.

Thought 2. Gor is presented by the author as a place where the strong write their own rules, making of their life what they would have it be.

Thought 3. Gor is presented by the author as a place where those that are weak are downtrodden with slavery and toil.... forced to obey the whims of the strong or suffer the greatest of indignations.

As you make your own conclusions of agreement or not, allow me to give you some of my own;

Norman takes us on a journey through our own minds and self-experiences with his writings. He writes literally, but at the same time, he has a subtle meaning that is hidden well, and may only be divined by readers willing to compare the examples in the books with life experiences. He does these things intentionally, hoping the reader finds in this style of writing, more than what is actually printed in black and white.

Conclusion 1. Take point one, that Gor is a world far more savage than earth. On Gor, you may be eaten by a wild beast, you may be taken and carted away into slavery, you may have any number of things happen to you.... but at the same time, Gor seems to be relatively free of large scale disease and pestilence, free of mass starvation, free of the continual strife that has plagued earth for thousands of years. Here on earth, from our earliest recorded history, there were bands of random warriors roaming the open spaces; killing, raping and pillaging all that fell in their path. From the savage Kurgans of the ancient steppes of Eastern Europe, to the Huns, to the Christians and Muslims of the Crusades, the Free Companies of Western Europes late middle ages, all the way to the events of 1939 to 1945, earth has shown itself again and again to be the more savage planet. Here on earth, lacking any codes of conduct between men of war, there exists a mandate for large-scale slaughter on an almost genocidal scale, something that the codes of the red caste would keep from happening on Gor. Consider the entire races of human beings that have virtually ceased to exist on earth, the Almaic, Carthaginian, Epirots, Skythians, Celt, American Indian and even the European Jew have largely disappeared or at least dwindled in numbers to the point of near extinction, and yet in the second book of Gor, we are shocked to find that the author has destroyed the city of Koroba, an event previously unheard of on Gor.

Conclusion 2. My second point illustrates how the strong on Gor write their own rules, making of their life what they may. This can be gleaned by reading the authors words literally, but if you read them as a collective, you find out that the caste system eliminates much of this free choice, choosing instead to force the strong to conform to set rules and ideals, or be set aside as one ostracized from society. This compares with earth where the strong have always been able to write their own ticket, convincing themselves that the evil they do is right in their own mind. Again, use same examples.... the Christians killed millions of Muslims and vice versa during the Crusades, using the words Hold Quest and Jihad to justify brutal evil. The government of the United States used an obscure policy of Manifest Destiny as a tool to practice genocide on the American Indian.... and the list goes on and on.

Conclusion 3. The last point is the treatment of the weak, i.e..... slave, as compared to the "free" person on earth. Ask yourself a few simple questions. Who does most of the dying by brutality on Gor? Is it the slave, the weak? No, it is the strong, whose very nature is to take matters into their own hands to gain his aims. Compare this to the "free" peoples of earth, that are used and manipulated by the strong to gain their own ends.... a trend that repeats itself again and again throughout our history. The strong on Gor have a sense of honor and fair play that does not exist on earth .... yet the favorite saying in most chat rooms is "Gor is not fair, it just is!" These words do not fit the actual examples we may find in the history of our planet and the reading of the novels.

On to the plight of the slave, who on Gor is treated as valued property? A Gorean Master would no more damage his valued slave property than he would place his helmet on the ground and thrash it with his own sword, harming the metal of both. Compare that with the impoverished masses here on earth that are to this day still serfs, only the names have been changes to make us all feel better about ourselves. This might sound like a feminist point of view, but I say the slave on Gor is still more free than the female in a western democracy, who is constantly being told that an equal break is their right, but in reality must be twice as good as her male counterpart to gain half the recognition and 75% of the pay. At least the Gorean slave knows what is expected, and what is pro-offered.... something that western democracies have yet to see fit to offer the fairer sex. Consider that the western democracies are considered ahead of the rest of the planet in its treatment of females; it's hard to imagine the plight of the female slave on Gor to be worse than for our own females here on earth.

So.... where is all this going? Clearly Norman, who is a skilled a writer, weaver of tales and subtle philosopher with few equals, is trying to point out the hypocrisy of the "less savage" earth by illustrating to us the "more savage" planet Gor. He uses a time honored writers trick of saying one thing, but allowing the reader to infer the opposite by viewing the collection of the whole.

Earth is clearly the more savage planet when comparing the two worlds. That which passes as a normal event in any given century, wholesale slaughter, crushing oppression, mass genocide, would not be tolerated or even understood by the Gorean mind. The Gorean mind would find these things as foreign as most earth persons finds the dignity and honor that is Gor. Perhaps that is why so many people choose to castigate Gor without ever taking the time to see what is really within its ideas and ideals.

So, the writer is asking us to find in ourselves the hypocrisy of this comparison. The savage world of Gor that is in reality less than savage, and the civilized world of earth where an inhabitant can find civilization, only in the grave.

I Wish You Well

Javlynn

Gorean vs Earth
   By rayn

Who do You know that is from Gor? Gor, is a fantasy world, created by John Norman. Noone is from Gor. But, the philosophy of Gor, may carry within us. It is with that philosophy, and the online "role play" that she writes this.

Now, taking into consideration that we are dealing with online, its first necessary to define what we call "player" . To rayn, a "player" is a person that justifies His or her actions by saying "its Gor" , without every having delved into the inner workings of Norman, the philosophies, let alone read a book

Having said that, she must also say, that it isn’t only reading the books that makes the Master or the Man "Gorean", its the mindset as well, its the inner feelings that come with each thought, and each step They take.

The Gorean Master, commonly, likes a spirited girl, one who fights the whip and collar, resisting until the last, perhaps months later, she is overwhelmed and must acknowledge herself his, utterly and without reservation, then fearing only that he might tire of her and sell her to another. pg 29 Nomads of GOR

In this quote, it is plain that John Norman is saying that a Gorean Master never expected a quiet docile girl, quite the opposite in fact. It could fearther be said that the challenge is greater the more resistant a girl is.

Yet, with online, a girl that challenges, that fights, is commonly referred to as "non slave", or one that knows nothing about what she is doing. Best yet, that she is controlling, and perhaps should consider being FW.

So does this mean that a Master should draw a line in the sand, and dare the girl to cross it? No, absolutely not, and of course, in the writings, the girls were quickly and forcefully punished, shown who the Master was, what He is capable of. Each Master, had their own way of training, of making the girl yield, letting her know that her very life depended on her ability to please Him. And, the end result with Each Master was the same, complete obedience and total submission from the girl. Yet, He never wandered away, changed His name, His identity, and Homestone and moved on when she stuck her toe over the line. Nor in the books, did the girl just up and leave, tired of One, moving on to another city under a different name she was expected to be pleasing, nothing short of her absolute best was demanded, and the penalty for not doing so was often harsh.

Perhaps, that is the "Earth" Man talking, perhaps He assumes that because He has capped His name, it makes Him a Master? Well, this question can lead us back to what defines a Master, what in that One Person is such that we, as slaves find ourselves wtih no recourse but to submit totally.

It is not uncommon for masters to pride themselves on the depth with which they know their slave girls; this depth is far greater in my opinion than that with which the average husband of Earth knows his wife; the slave girl is not simply someone with whom the man lives; she is very special to him; she is a treasures possession; he owns her; he wants to know profoundly and deeply, the background, history, the mind, the intelligence, the appetites, the nature and dispositions of his lovely article of property; this knowledge, of course, puts her more at his mercy; by making it possible for him to manipulate her feelings, exploit weaknesses, drop asides, etc., she in the helpless condition of slavery, it gives him greater power over her. For example, it is common for a master to force his girl to speak at length and in detail to him of the secret sides of her nature, explaining and elaborating on her fantasies; if she is literate, she may be forced, naked and collared, on her knees at a small table, sometimes with her ankles shackled, to write them out; this supplies the master, of course, with abundant materials which may be used by him to make her fearther and more helplessly his; sometimes the girl attempts to deceive the master; it is not difficult to detect in authenticity in such matters; she is then beaten; too, she may be at times ordered to invent fantasies, sometimes of a certain type; these, too, for she has invented them, are, to an astute master, instructive; these intellectual, emotional exercises, performed by the girl under the condition of slavery, particularly if coupled with an enforced exercise regime, posing under male surveillance, and such, can do much to sensitize her to her collar; they awaken her body, and, of equal importance for the Gorean, though not for the Earthling, who sees sex with the perception of a hippopotamus, as a matter of body rubbings, her fantastic imagination and mind; she becomes curious, soon, about the deeper implications of what she is, a mere article of her master's property; then, with authority, with assurance and power, to the depth and height of her mind and imagination she is taught; the slave girl experiences a paradox of freedom; the free woman is physically free, but miserable, fighting to be what she is not; the slave girl, physically in bondage, even to the collar, sometimes chains, is given no choice by men but to be totally and precisely what she is, slave; such women, slaves, interestingly, are almost always joyful and vital; they are paradoxically, in their feelings and emotions, liberated; they are not pinched, not psychologically restrained; why this should be I do not know; to see such women , their heads held high, their eyes bright, their bodies , movements, beautiful, as no earth woman would dare to be, is quite pleasurable; some of them are so insolent, so proud of their collars, that I have cuffed them to my feet, to remind them that they are only slaves. pg 42-43 Tribesmen of GOR

The philosophy of the Gorean Master, the mindset it just what John Norman states above. The Master taking the time to learn the girl, understand her, train her. And He goes so far as to say that some girls even become insolent, and proud. Yet, with online , the girls are chastized for being such, by the Ones that choose to refer to themselves as Masters. Instead, They choose to belittle, or "break" the girls spirit, or simply have nothing fearther to do with the girl, moving on instead to the next one, and then the next one.

And of course this works both ways, the girl also may just change her name, move to the next Master. But then , this also, for both, falls under the clasifaction of "player", or, cyberplay. Somewhere in there, the philosophy in which John Norman wrote, is lost to them, and it is then just a game. Nothing more, nothing less. Yet it is offensive, to those that choose to embrace the writings, to be classed the same as the ones that just seek entertainment.

The difference being, a "player " either a Master, Mistress, or slave, doesn’t care, simply moves onto the next room, or the next person, whereas, one that does care, is left behind, to pick up the reminents of the damage left behind.

Perhaps, this is where the conflict in the mindset between Earth and Gorean philosophies comes in. Mayhaps it is that for some, the understanding, the concept, although appealing to them, is just too hard, if not impossible, for them to commit to.

Norman Himself, made refrence to the stunning differences between the minds of Earth and Gorean. Is it that mindset, that portrays itself on the screen when they log on? Having been witness to, many acts of mutilation in regards to the writings of John Norman, it seems to be the only conclusion that can be reached. Perhaps, they seek not a better knowledge of Gor, the philosophies, but simply "cyber sex". If this is the case, perhaps, they should be looking elsewhere, instead of here.