From Night Watch by Terry Pratchett :
There was Rosie Palm, and Sandra, and Reg Shoe, and half a dozen others sitting around another table, in the middle of the street. As Vimes stepped out into the evening, a plaintive voice said: “You cannot fight for ‘reasonably priced love.’”
“You can if you want me and the rest of the girls on board,” said Rosie. “‘Free’ is not a word we wish to see used in these circumstances.”
“Oh, very well,” said Reg, making a note on a clipboard. “We’re all happy with Truth, Justice and Freedom, are we?”
“And better sewers.” This was the voice of Mrs. Rutherford. “And something done about the rats.”
“I think we should be thinking about higher things, Comrade Mrs. Rutherford,” said Reg.
“I’m not a comrade, Mr. Shoe, and nor is Mr. Rutherford,” said Mrs. Rutherford. “We’ve always kept ourselves to ourselves, haven’t we, Sidney?”
“I’ve got a question,” said someone in the crowd of onlookers. “Harry Supple’s my name. Got a shoe shop in New Cobblers…”
Reg seized on this as an opportunity to avoid talking to Mrs. Rutherford. Revolutionaries should not have to meet someone like Mrs. Rutherford on their first day.
“Yes, Comrade Supple?” he said.
“Nor are we boyjoys,” said Mrs. Rutherford, not willing to let things go.
“Er, bourgeoisie,” said Reg. “Our manifesto refers to bourgeoisie. That’s like bore, er, shwah, er, zee.”
“Bourgeoisie, bourgeoisie,” said Mrs. Rutherford, turning the world over on her tongue. “That doesn’t sound too bad. What, er, sort of thing do they do?”
“Anyway, it says here in article seven of this here list – ” Mr. Supple ploughed on.
” – People’s Declaration of the Glorious 24th of May,” said Reg.
“Yeah, yeah, right…well, it says we’ll seize hold of the means of production, sort of thing, so what I want to know is, how does that work out regarding my shoe shop? I mean, I’m in it anyway, right? It’s not like there’s room for me and my lad Garbut and maybe one customer.”
In the dark, Vimes smiled. But Reg could never see stuff coming.
“Ah, but after the revolution, all property will be held in common by The People…er…that is, it’ll belong to you but also to everyone else, you see?”
Comrade Supple looked puzzled.
“But I’ll be the one making the shoes?”
“Of course. But everything will belong to The People.”
“So…who’s going to pay for the shoes?” said Mr. Supple.
“Everyone will pay a reasonable price for their shoes, and you won’t be guilty of living off the sweat of the common worker,” said Reg shortly. “Now, if we – ”
“You mean the cows?” said Supple.
“What?”
“Well, there’s only the cows, and the lads at the tannery, and frankly, all they do is stand in a field all day, well, not the tannery boys, obviously, but – ”
“Look,” said Reg. “Everything will belong to The People and everyone will be better off. Do you understand?”
The shoemaker’s frown grew deeper. He wasn’t certain if he was part of The People. “I thought we just don’t want soldiers down our street, and mobs, and all that lot,” he said.
Reg had a hunted look. He made a dive for safety. “Well, at least we can agree on Truth, Freedom and Justice, yes?”
There was a chorus of nods. Everyone wanted those. They didn’t cost anything.
Heh. I read that and could not help but think of how beautifully this fiction reflected the Obama/Joe the Plumber moment.
Truth, Freedom and Justice.: We’ve got a press refusing to tell us the truth about Obama, while simultaneously refusing to look at the fact that perhaps as much as two-thirds of Obama’s half-a-billion dollar campaign finance chest was ill-gotten and deeply illegal. Meanwhile, the world yawns as Obama’s ACORN associations become plain, while states show more registered voters than eligible adults, and even while some Obama supporters in government positions abuse the power of their offices in order to defame and destroy a citizen who simply asked a question of The Anointed One, and got an honest answer from him. And then there are the “Harvard Research Model” head games.
Some Truth. Some Justice. Some Freedom.
Those things cost quite a lot, but if you read Night Watch to its conclusion, you know that the author, Terry Pratchett knows that. And eventually, so does Reg Shoe.
It’s a good book; funny, thought-provoking and imaginative. Night Watch was a birthday gift from my Elder Son, and I highly recommend it. A particularly timely read, too.
Related:
Pratchett in 2004: “Too Big to Fail”
Pratchett For the Secessionists
I love Mr. Pratchett– when he gets things right, he gets ‘em very right, and it’s funny to boot!
Next we learn that Mr. Supple isn’t a licensed shoemaker. And I suppose he owes twelve pence in taxes to someone.
And it’ll turn out Harry’s really Supple’s middle name.
And the press will ignore the bribes paid to someone on Lord Vetinari’s staff to obtain all this from the sealed records.
Terry Pratchett’s brilliance lies in the fact that he can *almost* keep up with real life.
We’ve got a press refusing to tell us the truth about Obama
Looks like the laugh is on us, as we have been suffering under the total delusion that, in the fight against Communism, we won and the Commies lost. The truth is, more and more, it is apparent that we lost.
Let’s not forget, comrades, in true Communism, it is not the government that controls everything, rather, it is the Party that controls everything, especially the media. Is there any institution of American society that is not controlled by the Party? The media, the schools, the courts, the government, the entertainment industry, much of industry — all of these are controlled by the Party. Even some of our religious denominations have been infiltrated and controlled by Party members. Meanwhile, too many of the non-Party members have sold them the rope to hang us all.
Some Brits get it though!
“You have to pinch yourself – a Marxist radical who all his life has been mentored by, sat at the feet of, worshiped with, befriended,endorsed the philosophy of, funded and been in turn funded, politically promoted and supported by a nexus comprised of black power anti-white racists, Jew-haters, revolutionary Marxists, unrepentant former terrorists and Chicago mobsters, is on the verge of becoming President of the United States. And apparently it’s considered impolite to say so.” – Melanie Philips, The Spectator ( UK ) 10/14/08.
Ha, so glad you’ve DISC-overed Pratchett! My favorite writer of late (not counting the never-to-be-supplanted Chesterton). Yes, he’s got quite a handle on human nature and politics. Read Good Omens for more wonderfulness (summary from http://www.electric-escape.net/pratchett/Good-Omens):
According to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter — the world’s only totally reliable guide to the future — the world will end on a Saturday.
Next Saturday, in fact.
Just after tea.
Which means that Armageddon will happen on a Saturday night. There will be seas of fire, rains of fish, the moon turning to blood and the massed armies of Heaven and Hell will sort it out once and for all.
Which is a major problem for Crowley, Hell’s most approachable demon and former serpent, and his opposite number and old friend Aziraphale, genuine angel and Soho bookshop owner.
They like it down here (or, in Crowley’s case, up here).
So they’ve got no alternative but to stop the Four Motorcyclists of the Apocalypse, defeat the marching ranks of the Witchfinder’s army (all two of them) and — somehow — stop it all happening.
Above all (or, in Aziraphale’s case, below all), they need to find and kill the Antichrist, currently the most powerful creature on Earth.
This is a shame.
Because he’s eleven years old, loves his dog (even though it’s really a Satanic hellhound under all that hair), really cares about the environment, and is the sort of boy anyone would be proud to have as a son. He’s also totally invulnerable, and a nice kid.
And if that isn’t enough, they’ve still got Sunday to deal with…