Hugo Detractors - Check your sense of entitlement at the door....

[daveon]

The Hugo mess rumbles on and once more I feel like I'm trapped in a bad re-run of NUS Conference 1990.  Here's another one from Shaun Duke "To the Hugo Defenders, Check your Financial Privilege at the door" (link removed due to Malware warning)

I replied but bit my lip over my gut response of 'oh grow the fuck up.'  And went for some more reasonable stuff.  But seriously, if the crux of the argument is that the Worldcon selects against the poor, then yes, yes it does.  As do many things which are slightly more fucking serious than not being about to get to a convention to help change the way a Science Fiction award works.  How about US Healthcare, or hunger eh?

I'd quite like a Bugatti Veyron, but the man is keeping me down!

Is attending Worldcons on a regular basis something you can do when young? No, not really.  I attended my first convention at 24, at least 6 years after being regularly involved in fanish things.  I didn't get to a Worldcon until I was 37, since then I've attended 3 others.  One where there was a business meeting I could piggy back off, another was fun, a third involved a Business Meeting and sleeping on the sofa.  I am fully aware that it's an expensive hobby.  And I am pretty sick of people assuming that because you do something you're rich and privileged. And oh yea gods how I am coming to hate the way that word is getting used.

Older people having more money than younger people is not privilege.  It really isn't.


Then, in the comments, Jonathon McAlmont turns up complaining about class, age and race.

Class has nothing to do with this.  You get fans from all classes and last time I checked money and class haven't been linked for a while.  Age?  Guilty.  It's easier to do these things as you get older. Assuming, of course, you don't have kids, or a partner who isn't a fan, in which case it's fucking hard to get a furlough for an SF Convention, believe me.  Finally Race.  All I have to say to that is Really you want to go there?  Because I'm fairly sure that Jonathon suffers from that about the same way I do.

Where I get annoyed is simply that I suggested a fix.  There are ways that improvements and changes could be made.  But the Hugo Award is given by the members of the Worldcon and that ain't going to change.  And people like Jonathon were clear they didn't actually want change.

You need to want to engage, even if you can't attend.  If you want to change things, there are ways and means to engage.  Kevin Standlee who has had such a dreadful press stands willing and able to work with people who want his help.  But name callings and moaning about privilege is a pretty poor way to get anybody to work with you as anybody who stays in employment in companies or academia will learn.

Having an opinion on something, and an interest in it, doesn't automatically give you the right to be involved with it.

EDIT:  In my original post I referenced being poor.  And it was pointed out that realistically I'm not poor.  Fair enough.  I'm not really poor.  I am heavily indebted which is causing me a lot of pain at the moment and has happened because I've been starting my own business and will, I hope, be something that changes shortly.  And then, yes, I'll be relatively speaking well off.

I'll be clear though, as a student and in the decade  that followed being a student I could never have considered going to a Worldcon, and during that period I went through a short period (about 5 months) where I was homeless and relying on family and friends for a roof over my head.

Comments

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

You might want to delete the link to that site: it appears to have been infected with a drive-by malware delivery agent.

[replyhazy.livejournal.com]

Um.

Do the Worldcons cater to the non-poor? Well OF COURSE they do. Because if people want to go, most of the time they have to travel to get there. That is not cheap. And many less-well-off people work jobs without paid vacation time here in the U.S., so even if they save and save for that one big trip, they might not be able to get the time off.

Now. Is there some way to fix it so that the Hugos are more accessible to the fans with less money? Well, sure. There could be an even cheaper Hugo-only membership, with both nomination and voting rights. But what I think that discussion misses is that there are other awards than the Hugo. If this type of thing doesn't appeal to the WSFS, a different award could be made. But then whoever sets that up will have to deal with the utter nightmare of administering it!

I guess personally I have more respect for a juried award than a popular-vote award, though it depends on the jury.

[bovil.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking that many arguments have a lot in common with arguments around Gallifrey One this year. How dare they run the convention to suit the people who, you know, register for and attend it?

[bovil.livejournal.com]

Oh, and there's the basic reality check: unless you're a writer, you don't need to attend SF conventions to advance your career. And even writers don't have to do that to advance their careers.

Compare the cost of Worldcon to academic and professional conferences. In many cases the mere registration for one of those is greater than a whole budget for attending a SF con.

[hawkida.livejournal.com]

Sorry, Dave, I really find it difficult to agree that you're poor. You have dogs that you can take to the vet when they need it, you have property in London, you are paying your bills and not worrying where your food is coming from. Poor people don't have those luxuries, or things like DVRs and cable subscriptions and if they have a surround sound system they don't need any more they try to get money for it, they don't give it away. No matter how knotted their backs get, they don't pay out for a massage. I'm not saying you're rich, or really comfortable, but I can't categorise you as "poor" and I can easily see why people are throwing around the "privilege" label if you think you are. Seriously, Dave, you're doing pretty bloody well. As am, I actually, and the only reason I can afford a Worldcon is because I paid early and it's happening in my home "town" of London next year.

[retro-rider55.livejournal.com]

Hi; referred to this post by Kevin Standlee. To the whingers, whiners, kvetches & toffs (thought I'd throw a bit of Brit in there): Oh, bosh. Include Disney, Florida while you're at it, as it's also something the average Bernard (Joe wasn't available as he's a Priveledged Anglophone - on vacation) doesn't live there, and may never see it, period, as he doesn't make that much money/has too many kids too feed (by his own choice)/ has a criminal record & thusly is restricted in his travel rights (shouldn't have been dealing dope in high school when ya knew it was illegal)... why is the World Con supposed to be a balm/have answers for all the injustices in life, alluva sudden?

Thank you, thank you, I'm here all week; try the veal...

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

Well, we are unlikely to be going to either WFC or Worldcon in the UK, because we can't afford the petrol at present or the sign-up costs. I certainly don't consider us to be poor - that would be ludicrous, but we have severe cash-flow problems at present and can't afford things that are essentially luxuries, like cons. Which is just as it is at the moment. I can't say that I see myself as being discriminated against....