baltakatei@sopuli.xyz 6 days ago
“Ankh-Morpork had dallied with many forms of government and had ended up with that form of democracy known as One Man, One Vote. The Patrician was the Man; he had the Vote.” — Mort (1987) by Terry Pratchett
baltakatei@sopuli.xyz 6 days ago
“Ankh-Morpork had dallied with many forms of government and had ended up with that form of democracy known as One Man, One Vote. The Patrician was the Man; he had the Vote.” — Mort (1987) by Terry Pratchett
AartKwarktaart@lemmy.world 5 days ago
GNU pratchett
Arguably, the Patrician is less authoritarian than the current US head of state. Yes, Vetinari is a Machiavellian despot, but there’s no great leader retorica, no prestige projects, no saber rattling, no lavish court, and he doesn’t bend or break society to fit his ideals (although there’s tons of nudging and quid pro quo). This is because he’s every powerful party’s second choice, he would promptly be removed if he upset the delicate dance of Morporkian oligarchy.