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MFS Bulletin, v. 3, issue 5, whole no. 17, February 01, 1943
MFS Bulletin, Vol. 3, Number 5 Page 5
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HELL FIRE JOHN REITROF Saying last installment that fans were eventually to reach a conclusion about the whole subject of Post-War Aactuality as applied to a United Fandom, Joe Gibson continues this time as he sez: "So suppose fandom does reach such a conclusion; then what? Then, my dear li'l ezwal, fans will want to unite with a purpose pertaining to this conclusion. The purpose would, of course, constitute a plan of action along the typical 'what can we do to help bring about the world of the future' idea. It would probably concern a bit of crusading for the aforementioned conclusion and so forth. At any rate, idealism would be naturally the most prevallant. # THEN WHAT, EXWAL? "Before, on the days of the American Revolution, for example, the people didn't exactly know whatthey were fighting for. They nearly lost the war! That they won can be attributed to the fact that imagination had little leeway in that early stage. But today, imagination is predominant. Its effective existence demands that the common fellow have some sort of ideal to fight for; the idea of fighting against the extinction of his civilization sounds a little far-fetched. Now, consider the sort of conclusion fandom is most likely to make on this subject. Fans are an independent, idealotic, egotistic, self-centered lot; too much so for any sort of radical technocratic ideal to be acceptable. But why go further? That letter of mine par AST gave my idea of the sort of conclusion they'd probably reach. "Fandom would have a conclusion the whole world is seeking!" SO HERE'S THE FINAL STAGE------- "Consider the effects of fandom's conclusion on the stf yarns in the pros. Its idealism shoudl catch there, too. Then, consider its effects on the 'casual readers' of stf pros. You know how it is when a new guy comes into fandom; he begins with a few antiquated arguments about the sad state of everything - arguments which usually have been argued out among the fans themselves several thousand times - and gradually gets the hang of things, sinking in deeper and deeper as he does. "So casual readers take up the controversy, and casually become fans. Know what that means? It means that pros would find it paying to feature yarns concerning thid brainchild of a conclusion of fandom's. It means that as casual readers become fans, the pros' circulation would mount. Think of the ratio of casual readers there are to the number of all-time fans!... Some changes are indicated about here. For one thing, fandom in general should have developed a dynamic sort of plan of action by this time. As they grew from the enlistments of casual readers, their crusade for a 'better world' - post-war, would be expanding. Pros would perhaps be turning to the
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HELL FIRE JOHN REITROF Saying last installment that fans were eventually to reach a conclusion about the whole subject of Post-War Aactuality as applied to a United Fandom, Joe Gibson continues this time as he sez: "So suppose fandom does reach such a conclusion; then what? Then, my dear li'l ezwal, fans will want to unite with a purpose pertaining to this conclusion. The purpose would, of course, constitute a plan of action along the typical 'what can we do to help bring about the world of the future' idea. It would probably concern a bit of crusading for the aforementioned conclusion and so forth. At any rate, idealism would be naturally the most prevallant. # THEN WHAT, EXWAL? "Before, on the days of the American Revolution, for example, the people didn't exactly know whatthey were fighting for. They nearly lost the war! That they won can be attributed to the fact that imagination had little leeway in that early stage. But today, imagination is predominant. Its effective existence demands that the common fellow have some sort of ideal to fight for; the idea of fighting against the extinction of his civilization sounds a little far-fetched. Now, consider the sort of conclusion fandom is most likely to make on this subject. Fans are an independent, idealotic, egotistic, self-centered lot; too much so for any sort of radical technocratic ideal to be acceptable. But why go further? That letter of mine par AST gave my idea of the sort of conclusion they'd probably reach. "Fandom would have a conclusion the whole world is seeking!" SO HERE'S THE FINAL STAGE------- "Consider the effects of fandom's conclusion on the stf yarns in the pros. Its idealism shoudl catch there, too. Then, consider its effects on the 'casual readers' of stf pros. You know how it is when a new guy comes into fandom; he begins with a few antiquated arguments about the sad state of everything - arguments which usually have been argued out among the fans themselves several thousand times - and gradually gets the hang of things, sinking in deeper and deeper as he does. "So casual readers take up the controversy, and casually become fans. Know what that means? It means that pros would find it paying to feature yarns concerning thid brainchild of a conclusion of fandom's. It means that as casual readers become fans, the pros' circulation would mount. Think of the ratio of casual readers there are to the number of all-time fans!... Some changes are indicated about here. For one thing, fandom in general should have developed a dynamic sort of plan of action by this time. As they grew from the enlistments of casual readers, their crusade for a 'better world' - post-war, would be expanding. Pros would perhaps be turning to the
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