StoryWonker
80p146 comments posted · 13 followers · following 1
5 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Night Watc... · 1 reply · +20 points
And it's gained legitimacy not just because Vimes is virtuous, but because he's filled its positions of institutional authority with similarly good people who carry out just policing every day. Carrot and Angua and Detritus and Cheery and all the rest; Ankh-Morpork coppers don't refuse bribes just because Mister Vimes Would Go Spare - they refuse them because Captain Carrot Would Be Angry And Disappointed, because Sergeant Angua Would Growl At Us, because Sergeant Detritus Would Attempt Irony. Those things have become, *will* become, That's Just Not How We Do Things. The Assassins no longer consider Vetinari or Vimes an acceptable target; how long until it becomes unthinkable to take a contract on the Patrician or the Commander of the Watch? Ankh-Morpork will be all the more stable for that.
And that, I think, is what Pratchett's saying here: not that virtuous people in positions of power will inherently fix all the problems, but that virtuous people can change the norms of institutions and societies. Carcer has power in Winder and Snapcase's city, because people will *just follow orders*; in Vetinari and Vimes' city, those orders wouldn't be followed because the people at the top and all through the hierarchy have set a precedent that you question and refuse to follow illegal orders.
7 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Feet of Cl... · 0 replies · +9 points
7 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Feet of Cl... · 0 replies · +4 points
7 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Feet of Cl... · 1 reply · +4 points
7 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Maskerade'... · 1 reply · +41 points
7 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Maskerade'... · 1 reply · +12 points
Gung bar vf zhpu zber cbvagrq jura jr trg gb Gur Gehgu - 'Tbbqzbhagnva' vf n yvgreny genafyngvba bs 'Thgraoret'.
8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Men at Arm... · 0 replies · +4 points
8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Men at Arm... · 2 replies · +4 points
8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Men at Arm... · 0 replies · +9 points
8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Lords and ... · 0 replies · +17 points