Small Scale Politics

What is it about groups of people that cause them to degenerate into petty squabbles once a certain critical mass group size is reached? Well actually, I should clarify that, as the group reaches a certain size petty squabbles develop, as the group reaches a slightly larger size those squabbles become full-on arguments.

I say this on reflection of three social groups I'm a part of. The LARP group I've been a part of, is starting to fracture because certain members are being continually kowtowed to. The community of aboriginal elders are having major issues with the land council board members who do not respect the old ways and are simply in it for personal gain. The ferret welfare society to which I belong is also crumbling.

Maybe it's just my presence causing an increase of entropy.

Or maybe there is something deeper, something that can be exploited as a resource for driving tension in games.

I'm not sure at this point, and a lot of the political issues are still a bit too raw to think about objectively at this stage. All I can say at this stage is that the critical point seems to emerge at around a dozen members. That seems to be the point when more than one strong willed individual emerges in the group, and friction begins.