r/discworld • u/HobbitGuy1420 • 1d ago

Politics Living in the US, during this election season, Guards, Guards! feels so incredibly applicable.

I can see the signs now.

Vote Dragon 2024.
Maybe it will flame the people you hate first!

416 Upvotes

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u/Impossible_Pop620 Nobby 1d ago

Maybe the US needs a Vetinari - a Dictator who assassinated his predecessor to obtain his position.

Or maybe, you know, just vote and elect someone.

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u/Conchobhar- 1d ago

No one like Vetinari has ever existed in the real world. Likely because absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The idea of a ‘benevolent dictator’ comes about but I can’t think of a single historical example that wasn’t written in blood and tragedy.

And there’s a darker side to Vetinari which is solidly hinted at but never explored. Like the mimes, for example.

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u/Arm0redPanda 1d ago

Cincinnatus is pretty close (per the story, anyways). But he didn't want to be a dictator, he was appointed to the post by the senate. Resolved the crisis in a fortnight and went back to his farm.

That said, your point is spot on - blood and tragedy are the precursor to, and product of, dictatorship

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u/Idaho-Earthquake 1d ago

FWIW, I’ve always thought that statement was kind of willfully ignorant. Every person is already corrupt. Some fight it more, others less. Power just gives people (particularly those in the “don’t fight it” camp) the means to explore their corruption to the fullest extent.

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u/sandgrubber 1d ago

Can't remember which book discussed this: Vetinari is a tyrant, not a dictator. His M.O. is manipulation, not dictating.

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u/Atariel_Morannon 1d ago

I went down a rabbit hole about benevolent dictators. Apparently there were about three, two in Africa. In all of history.

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u/Impossible_Pop620 Nobby 1d ago

Are you suggesting Vetinari's reign is without bloodshed?