Dwain
January 22nd, 2001, 02:30 PM
Many people have good ideas and vision for BASE. A small proportion of those people actually put some time and energy into attempting to make those ideas or visions come true. And very, very infrequently somebody will actually succeed. Full congratulations and recognition are deserved by Robin Heid et alibi for transforming the dream of a Petronas Millennium jump into a reality.
It is unfortunate when politics interfere with higher objectives and reveal an underlying nastiness that is prevalent in all sub cultures. However, internal battles for power and recognition in BASE do not change a common Utopian goal: “Uninhibited access to all objects in the world”.
A problem with the general public’s acceptance of BASE is that it stimulates one of the most common fears in humans: the fear of falling. Therefore opposition to BASE is often not based on rational thought, but on emotion and underlying personal fear. It is hard to argue logically with emotion and this makes our battles for acceptance that much more difficult.
In order to gain wide spread acceptance, we must get the general public past the hurdle of accepting that we jump off things - by focusing on how well jump off things. Competition will help achieve this. The fact that the activity can be competitive negates the notion that it is just a high-risk stunt.
There is no denying that successful high publicized events such as the proposed World Championships would have positive effects on world wide public perception and site access battles.
Congratulations and recognition for the Petronas Millennium jump are deserved not because the event gave 15 people the opportunity to legally jump a phenomenal object, but because of the doors it opened for future possibilities (such as the World Championships). This should not be forgotten in the wake of politics that are following.
While politics in our community are often entertaining and amusing to watch (and sometimes fuel) we must draw the line when they start threatening our common goals.
The facts remain:
- A highly publicized successful World Championships would improve the general publics perception of BASE and help site access battles.
- The Petronas Millennium jump was a significant step towards making the World Championships a reality.
- Congratulations are deserved to those involved.
Let’s focus on the bigger issues at hand and not get bogged down in the “he said, she said” political bickering.
Enough said – let’s go jump.
It is unfortunate when politics interfere with higher objectives and reveal an underlying nastiness that is prevalent in all sub cultures. However, internal battles for power and recognition in BASE do not change a common Utopian goal: “Uninhibited access to all objects in the world”.
A problem with the general public’s acceptance of BASE is that it stimulates one of the most common fears in humans: the fear of falling. Therefore opposition to BASE is often not based on rational thought, but on emotion and underlying personal fear. It is hard to argue logically with emotion and this makes our battles for acceptance that much more difficult.
In order to gain wide spread acceptance, we must get the general public past the hurdle of accepting that we jump off things - by focusing on how well jump off things. Competition will help achieve this. The fact that the activity can be competitive negates the notion that it is just a high-risk stunt.
There is no denying that successful high publicized events such as the proposed World Championships would have positive effects on world wide public perception and site access battles.
Congratulations and recognition for the Petronas Millennium jump are deserved not because the event gave 15 people the opportunity to legally jump a phenomenal object, but because of the doors it opened for future possibilities (such as the World Championships). This should not be forgotten in the wake of politics that are following.
While politics in our community are often entertaining and amusing to watch (and sometimes fuel) we must draw the line when they start threatening our common goals.
The facts remain:
- A highly publicized successful World Championships would improve the general publics perception of BASE and help site access battles.
- The Petronas Millennium jump was a significant step towards making the World Championships a reality.
- Congratulations are deserved to those involved.
Let’s focus on the bigger issues at hand and not get bogged down in the “he said, she said” political bickering.
Enough said – let’s go jump.