M.A.R. Barker, author of Tekumel, also author of Neo-Nazi book?

[Random Task]

Antisemitism was back then (and for some, is now) unfortunately very much baked into many people's worldviews, even outside of full-on Nazism. M.A.R. Barker was born about only 5-10 years before my dad and uncle. And they've told me stories about hearing "You can't be Jewish, you're too nice" and even being asked if someone could feel their head to check for horns, because this person honestly believed that we had horns.

I find the full on Nazi Holocaust denial aspect is really what makes this instance stand apart.

 

[Aldarc]

Before the news broke about Barker, I was mildly curious about Tekumel considering its status in the early days of our hobby. I was considering picking up digital copies of Barker's novels (the Tekumel novels, not Serpent's Wake) and game books. Now . . . my interest has dried up completely. Barker can be consigned to the dustbin of tabletop history for all I care.

But for others, this hits hard. For those of you who have been long-time Tekumel fans, you have my support as you grapple with how to deal with this news.

Tekumel had some really interesting ideas that have influenced my own sense of settings. I'm thankful for the ideas therein, but I've absorbed and been affected by those main ideas and highlights already. Consuming his material further (or not, in this case) will not change that.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

On flawed creatives in general: for the most part, I don’t have a problem continuing to enjoy the output I liked before revelations of their darker natures. So I still listen to old Bill Cosby comedy bits, watch early Woody Allen films, and read HPL. But once I learn of reprehensible behavior, I make a choice about whether or not the new data means I shouldn’t consume new works by them.

The same goes for creatives who are new…or new to me.

In this particular situation, Empire of the Petal Throne was a name I barely knew beyond the occasional ad in a gaming mag. Nobody I gamed with has ever mentioned playing it. MAR Barker wasn’t a name I readily associated with the hobby. So for me, this is a pretty easy case: I’m not going to be buying any EotPT material.

 

[MGibster]

Tekumel had some really interesting ideas that have influenced my own sense of settings. I'm thankful for the ideas therein, but I've absorbed and been affected by those main ideas and highlights already. Consuming his material further (or not, in this case) will not change that.

And this is part of what makes these kinds of revelations difficult. I was also going to use Bill Cosby as my example like @Dannyalcatraz did. Growing up in the 80s, Bill Cosby was America's dad on one of the most popular sitcoms of the decade. Cosby was also in another show in the 60s (before my time) called I, Spy which was pretty good and depicted the black and white protagonist on the show as equals which was kind of a big deal at the time. I enjoyed Cosby's work quite a bit and when I learned about his sexual assaults it didn't retroactively go back in time and make me not enjoy them. But I've laid off his work since then. One day I might be able to go back and watch them, but deep down inside I'll always know what kind of man Cosby really was.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Definitely. I said that not to in any way excuse him. If he came by it through generational, systemic hatred, he made the decision to actively serve as an amplifier. Writing Nazi-fan fic and serving on the board of a Holocaust-denying journal is way beyond just inherited bigotry.

I find the full on Nazi Holocaust denial aspect is really what makes this instance stand apart.

 

[Some Dude]

And this is part of what makes these kinds of revelations difficult. I was also going to use Bill Cosby as my example like @Dannyalcatraz did. Growing up in the 80s, Bill Cosby was America's dad on one of the most popular sitcoms of the decade. Cosby was also in another show in the 60s (before my time) called I, Spy which was pretty good and depicted the black and white protagonist on the show as equals which was kind of a big deal at the time. I enjoyed Cosby's work quite a bit and when I learned about his sexual assaults it didn't retroactively go back in time and make me not enjoy them. But I've laid off his work since then. One day I might be able to go back and watch them, but deep down inside I'll always know what kind of man Cosby really was.

The Pudding Pop Rapist and his I Spy co-star Robert Culp were also in a fantastic early '70s detective flick called Hickey and Boggs (which Culp directed). Dynamite film, really good, but good luck getting anyone to watch it with you these days. I mean, I get it, it's just tainted now.

 

[Blue Orange]

As extreme as it sometimes sounds, disinheriting people or ostracizing them/wrecking a relationship - there are some political issues that may cross very important lines and beliefs you hold. I would hope it's not something as mundane as the level of governmental spending where there can usually be a broad area of compromise. But how do you compromise on getting gender affirming therapy for your trans kids being investigated by the state as abuse? How do you compromise on inciting an attack on the Capitol? How do you compromise on teaching the legacy of racism being banned from the schools? How do you live with someone who wants your kids to be made miserable and subject to discrimination?

I wouldn't treat those the same way, and looking at the responses to the quotes, I've started to realize just how out of step I am with the modern gaming public. Maybe it's time to realize I've just passed into that stage of life where you're an old conservative fart, and that's the end of that. What's that Mitchell and Webb quote? Are we the baddies? Well, maybe I am.

Maybe I need to find a new hobby. What do they say? Awareness is never gained without pain.

Good luck and best wishes to everyone.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

But how do you compromise on getting gender affirming therapy for your trans kids being investigated by the state as abuse? How do you compromise on inciting an attack on the Capitol? How do you compromise on teaching the legacy of racism being banned from the schools? How do you live with someone who wants your kids to be made miserable and subject to discrimination?

Mod Note:

Let’s keep the amount of extra politics in this politically charged topic to a minimum, thanks.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I've been reading widely in scholarly publications for decades now, and I have literally never encountered a footnote like that one, where a researcher discovers a heretofore unknown and important fact about their research topic and then chooses 1) not to reveal what they have found, yet 2) instead to include a note stating that they have discovered something important but refusing to reveal precisely what it is and encouraging other scholars to figure it out for themselves.

That really is extraordinary from my POV as well.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

the Silver Legion wasn't a neo-Nazi group. They were a Nazi sympathizer group contemporaneous with Nazism itself.