Now I really want a book titled Osprey Archer's Guide to a More Successful Autocracy, or maybe How to be a Better Dictator In [Number] Easy Steps. I'm entirely serious; you'd do an excellent job at it, and it would be entertaining. And maybe terrifying if people really did read it for pointers.
It would probably be glorious, like The Screwtape Letters but for government instead of sin. The narrator would rank dictators by effectiveness, as measured by: founding a dynasty; dying peacefully in bed rather than by assassination; ruling over vast areas of territory that don't fall apart after the dictator's death, looking at you, Alexander the Not-So-Great.
I'm not sure I could make it long enough to fill a whole book and I'm not sure who would buy it, but it would probably be fun to write.
Oh man, see, I love this! Pleeeeze write a little more, or at least consider it, even if it doesn't make a full book. Even if it's just a pamphlet that you throw up onto Amazon, I would promote the hell out of it. And buy it.
Would you like this instead of The Changeling fic? I have worked up a bit of a backlog here, which is good of course, but it also means I'm squeezed for time.
...I've already plotted out five chapters of advice for President Snow. I think it will end up all being addressed to him, but it probably won't have many spoilers for the series/depend on having read the series to make sense; it's just easier to have a specific dictator in mind than try to cover all dictator bases.
One of them is called "Do you want to build an empire?" Sung to the tune of "Do you want to build a snowman?"
I mean really the problem is that THG as it stands is a series about a rebellion against tyranny, and if President Snow were better at evil dictatoring it would probably become a series about learning to live under tyranny even as it cracks your soul apart. I would read it! But I'm not sure it would garner the same kind of audience as THG.
rebranded as a glorious opportunity for district bonding and social advancement? Make people root for their own district tributes! Set up tribute training centers in each district! Smile as parents fight each other for the chance to train their children to die gory gladiatorial deaths, because a win in the arena is their best and maybe only chance for social advancement.
Have you considered a career in contemporary politics?
Very good points about Snow. I'm amused that this is your takeaway because it is different to many other takeaways I have seen. I suppose Collins was aiming for a bit of a caricature of a dictator: Katniss is not the most perceptive narrator, so I feel a more subtle dictator might have been difficult to convey through her eyes. But there are certainly efficacy questions.
I agree that fear itself is insufficient, and encouraging buy-in is better than encouraging resentment. That's one of the reasons I enjoy Lorata's fics - she explores a District 2 volunteer training culture, and this Career district scorns districts without such a programme.
I think, given that the books are about a successful rebellion against dictatorship, it's probably just as well that President Snow is somewhat incompetent: it will make the rebels' ultimate victory more feasible. And the Panem system has been in place for 75 years already, which means that the Capitol has had plenty of time to grow complacent about its control.
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I'm not sure I could make it long enough to fill a whole book and I'm not sure who would buy it, but it would probably be fun to write.
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Oh man, see, I love this! Pleeeeze write a little more, or at least consider it, even if it doesn't make a full book. Even if it's just a pamphlet that you throw up onto Amazon, I would promote the hell out of it. And buy it.
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...I've already plotted out five chapters of advice for President Snow. I think it will end up all being addressed to him, but it probably won't have many spoilers for the series/depend on having read the series to make sense; it's just easier to have a specific dictator in mind than try to cover all dictator bases.
One of them is called "Do you want to build an empire?" Sung to the tune of "Do you want to build a snowman?"
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I mean overall I liked THG just fine but sometimes I was like "c'mon bro you can try harder than this. Learn from the greats."
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Have you considered a career in contemporary politics?
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I agree that fear itself is insufficient, and encouraging buy-in is better than encouraging resentment. That's one of the reasons I enjoy Lorata's fics - she explores a District 2 volunteer training culture, and this Career district scorns districts without such a programme.
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