Is X Marks the Scot a Clan?

[gilmore]

gilmore

I disagree with you. I imagine that the early clans were probably made up of people who lived in one area, bonding together for a common cause (survival) rather than the fact that they were all related by blood.

In any case, what started a thousand years, or more, ago has limited applicablility on life in the twenty-first century. The fact is, in terms of the internet community (virtual society, as it were), x-marks is a group of people gathered together in support of a common cause (kilts, rather than survival).

In fact, if you look up the definition of the word clan (I used Merriam-Webster) one definition is:



If x-marks ain't a clan, I don't know what is. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that the members of x-marks (the regular participants) have more real clan spirit than many people who claim the "right" to wear this tartan or that tartan.



Nice. I like that.

You miss a couple of points.

One is that Scots clans no longer exist in the form in which they rose to prominence, and new ones are not being invented.

The other is that a social organization one is a part of not by choice is a far different thing than one that one chooses to belong to. "Clan spirit," what ever that may be, is not at all the same as "team spirit", or the spirit of groups of like-minded people who choose to band together based on the common interest in a fetishized piece of clothing. If you have experienced both you can easily understand the difference.