tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350096535937978369.post6168016606965150484..comments2024-01-09T18:40:53.465-08:00Comments on Ramblings of a Creative Double Dipper: Narcissus in Chains chapter 27Christwriterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17590823821715820817noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350096535937978369.post-90526793664259004862013-01-02T12:38:00.208-08:002013-01-02T12:38:00.208-08:00When I finished reading "Twilight" I ima...When I finished reading "Twilight" I imagined a cage match between Fred Saberhagen's Vlad and Edward. <br /><br />It did not end well for Edward. Christwriterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17590823821715820817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350096535937978369.post-84216400227074767272013-01-02T12:37:02.348-08:002013-01-02T12:37:02.348-08:00My personal philosophy is that politics must first...My personal philosophy is that politics must first be discussed outside of a moral context. Not because morals have no place in politics (they do) but because you first need to identify ALL the mechanisms in a system before you decide which ones are worth keeping. You cannot remove dysfunctional elements from a system if you do not first identify what those non-functional elements are. <br /><br />Once you've done the practical side, THEN you bring in morality and decide which mechanisms you will keep and which ones you will discard. <br /><br />A good leader should be loved by their law-abiding citizens without fear (because they know they're safe while they obey the laws) should be both loved AND feared by citizens in a gray area (IE Theives guild style law breakers, political enemies who aren't actively murdering people) and should be absolutely feared by the bad guys (Murderers, political enemies who do actively harm people) because the leader will make the bad guys go away. A GREAT leader would be able to do all of the above and make it fair and just. <br /><br />This is not something most people can acheive, and that's why we have democratcy. From a leader's POV it's better to be loved and feared, but from a subject's POV it's better to have three moderately corrupt leaders that keep each other in check than to have one massively bad leader who has no checks or balances at all. <br /><br />I still say that in our hearts, most of humanity (Western humanity, anyway) still wants a perfect "Once and Future King", which is why Aragon, Arthur and Jesus Christ are all still popular figures. <br /><br />And I seriously do need to do "The Prince" eventually. It's just...I really hate "issue" books. Christwriterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17590823821715820817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350096535937978369.post-80602526817890663512013-01-02T10:19:00.007-08:002013-01-02T10:19:00.007-08:00'Edit' - He's also more adaptable than...'Edit' - He's also more adaptable than Anita. He learns. He looks at his behaviour, sees that it's out of step with the morality of the times, and decides that he's the one who needs to adjust. After all, if he hadn't been sick of his life as it was he wouldn't have bothered to leave his castle.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05828438966741169694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350096535937978369.post-36616197864116541402013-01-02T10:07:55.687-08:002013-01-02T10:07:55.687-08:00Everyone also misses the fact that The Prince was ...Everyone also misses the fact that The Prince was written as advice to a conquering warlord, not for a local ruler with a legitimate claim to power. In other works Machiavelli was clear in his praise of democracy as it worked at the time.<br /><br />So, Anita.<br /><br />Anyone here read the Dracula Tapes by Fred Saberhagen? The classic Dracula story as told from the point of view of the monster. In life Vlad Tepes tortured thousands of people to death in horrific and creative ways, earning himself the title 'The Impaler'. In the Dracula Tapes the monster freely admits to all such acts, and explains exactly why he'd do them again under the same circumstances, and why after all of that he still considers himself a good Christian - And he comes off as far more plausible and sympathetic than Anita, because he admits that his acts were horrible and were driven by a combination of militaristic pragmatism and personal emotional revenge against the Turks. He is brutal and vicious, he lives by a crude medieval code of honour and glory, and he freely admits to using Lucy for his own pleasure without regard for her wellbeing -<br /><br />And he's still a better, less cruel person than Anita.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05828438966741169694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350096535937978369.post-4854548854722908162013-01-02T09:19:15.327-08:002013-01-02T09:19:15.327-08:00Anita needing to be saved by a guy actually happen...Anita needing to be saved by a guy actually happens so much in the later books it's fucking ridiculous. <br /><br />Anita also being a sociopathic murderer isn't new either, sadly, and will continue into the later books too, on the rare occasion she actually does anything anymore. Like, seriously, either she does nothing, or she does something terrible. <br /><br />The actual Machievelli line was that it is BEST to be both loved and feared, but if you can't have both, then just feared is better than just loved. She also misuses this line in a later book too, leading me to believe she's never actually read The Prince and just knows this quote because it's the same one EVERYONE knows...and also kind of misses that it may have been a satire and/or a gift of deliberate bad advice to get the ruler he gave it to taken down if he actually followed it. (that said, not all of it is bad advice or even evil, just uber-practical uber-pragmatic, with no giving a shit about the moral aspect)RFhttp://a-sporking-rat.livejournal.com/noreply@blogger.com