I'm Mad As Hell

I'm mad as hell, And I'm not going to take it anymore. I have to speak up. The "party" this weekend is the absolute LAST STRAW.
People wonder why our local community is a laughing stock? Why people all over the country view our area as a joke? Why our local groups can't get a guest presenter to come do a demo or workshop, even if you ignore all the bickering, infighting, back-stabbing, and gossip? Why national organizations have pulled the charters of local groups?
I will tell you why, it is really quite simple. People in this area take the ENTIRE thing as a joke. Its what group can do what better, its who can get more people to show up at their events, its who can act more like a jr high class.
The supposed community in this state is a "What have you done for me lately" kind of community. Instead of the close knit communities of other areas, no one will help out a fellow community member without getting something in return. And those of us who DO help out in the name of community get taken advantage of.
There is an ever revolving door of "sister" and "brother" relationships in the community. In times past, the brother/sister dynamic was only for those in a leather family. Now, here in this area, it seems that people consider each other to be brother/sister if they get along and are good friends. It has nothing to do with a family style dynamic, and, often times, the two people don't even pretend to serve the same Dominant.
Little "d" Dominants. This is when a "slave" decides he or she doesn't want to be a slave that night and becomes a Dominant. We, in the real world, call this switching. Also, many in the lifestyle view the person switching to mean they are not a slave. A slave, a real slave, does not have the ability to Dominate someone AT ALL. (What the hell is a little d Dominant, anyway?)
Bratty slaves. It seems, at least in this area, that slaves feel the need to be bratty. They joke about their role and look at those of us who do not joke about it as less than them. No, sorry, honey, if I acted around my Master the way you act around your "Mistress" I would be in more trouble than I have EVER been in. Didn't anyone ever tell you that when you act like that in public, you are making a fool of your "Mistress"? That is Slavehood 101, right before "Slaves are not Dominants, not even 'little d Dominants'"
A "Show off your  leathers" party. You are inviting everyone to come clad in their leather gear, yet, there are only 3 couples STATE WIDE who are fully leathered, in EARNED leather. To have a party where you are promoting the party as a leather event, and then to have just anyone wearing leathers is an insult to those of us who have worked to earn them. ESPECIALLY when members of your group have ridiculed and laughed at the reverence with which earned leather is treated or other members have asked to borrow pieces of earned leather.
The fact that the younger people in this area don't bother to educate themselves in the things they do, that every Dominant thinks of themselves as a Master or Mistress without doing ANY of the studying, learning, or mentorship that goes along with being seen as an M-type in a normal community. The fact that the leader of one of the local groups openly scorns the idea of mentoring says A LOT. There is no respect for the history. We have learned so much and come so far as a National Community, yet at least 75% of the local community has no idea what the Stonewall Riots were or why they were so important to the National Community.
The local community, and it pains me to call it that, takes offense when they decide to charge money for a workshop, but are questioned about their credentials to teach these things, their experience. These questions then become a joke within the "community."
The local community is a joke, no one takes it seriously. And that is sad since it is the only option for people around here.