Re: "Starter Villain" by John Scalzi

On Sat, 10 May 2025 13:00:49 -0400 (EDT), kludge@panix.com (Scott
Dorsey) wrote:

Paul S Person  <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:

Well, IIRC, the French solved that problem a while back.
>
Perhaps we can borrow Madame La Guillotine from them for a while ...

>
Doesn't work.  At least it didn't work for the French.  They killed all
the royals, then within a short time established new royals.  It happens
far too often...  the Russians did the same thing in 1917....

It wasn't just the royals. They made being an aristrocrat (there may
have been some conditions) a capital crime. The aristocracy didn't
entirely disappear, but a lot of it did. Imagine that happening to the
1%-ers. Or, rather, don't, as it is rather extreme. I would prefer
that the 1%-ers reform themselves, but that seems unlikely.

As Capt Delano put it in /Benito Cereno/ (I have an LP set of a
performance, this is from memory), "Ah, the French! Start with a paper
Republic, end with a <???> like Napoleon".

And after that: a restored (constitutional, IIRC) monarchy, a second
Empire, and several Republics (currently, the 5th Republic is in
force), not to mentiion Vichy. So this solution may indeed have ...
instability ... as a downside.
 
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"