In the second part of\u00c2\u00a0Jingo<\/i>, Vimes and Vetinari suspect the future is about to get really messy. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Discworld<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For extensive talk of racism, xenophobia, imperialism, and war.\u00c2\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
GOOD LORD, I DIDN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T EXPECT THIS AT ALL. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just gonna imagine that \u00e2\u20ac\u201c at least thus far, since I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve just barely started this book \u00e2\u20ac\u201c\u00c2\u00a0Jingo<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0is a spiritual response to what Pratchett attempted with\u00c2\u00a0Interesting Times<\/i>. In just these eighteen pages or so, he hones his social commentary into a biting and hilarious conversation between Vetinari\/Vimes and the civic leaders of Ankh-Morpork. There are just so many lines here that honestly blew me away. LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TALK ABOUT THEM.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Quite so. What you are telling me, in point of fact, is that their assassins have been doing it longer, know their way around our city and have had their traditional skills honed by you?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n You can just @ the United States on Twitter, Pratchett. BECAUSE HOLY SHIT, THIS DESCRIBES MY COUNTRY\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S FOREIGN POLICY PERFECTLY. Did Pratchett necessarily intend to make this parallel? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not quite sure, but I appreciate that the text made these thoughts pop into my mind. Specifically, my country has long trained and funded mercenaries, militias, and oppressive regimes around the world (always because some part of it benefitted our foreign policy), and then turned around and threw a fit when said actions backfired on us. But I think that Pratchett was trying to build the case that the conflict between Klatch and Ankh-Morpork was artificial, or at least it was pretty damn silly. There was no problem with the Klatchian people in Lord Downey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eyes when he could benefit from training them. But of course, the second they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153enemy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in another sense, then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easier to demonize them.<\/p>\n The armaments manufacturer looked affronted.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pardon me? Of\u00c2\u00a0course<\/i>. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re\u00c2\u00a0weapons<\/i>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Mr. Burleigh personifies this same exact attitude. He sold his weapons to Klatch because it made him money. But Pratchett takes his commentary a step further: I think he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s referring to the way that war is profitable, that some people cannot even conceive of\u00c2\u00a0not<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0making weapons, which are inherently designed to hurt other people. To Burleigh, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nonsensical to even suggest that he should care about what people do with what he creates. Again: Pratchett, you can just say this is about American gun production or war profiteering. WE CAN HANDLE IT.<\/p>\n Just kidding. (We actually can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t most of the time.) But I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all that accurate to say this is an American phenomenon that Pratchett is commenting on, since plenty of other countries all throughout history have done the same thing. The shoe fits, however, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m gonna make sure my country wears it, you know? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a way to help me understand the text, to filter it through my understanding of a specific country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s history. As I worked my way through this section, I could see how much Pratchett was\u00c2\u00a0actually<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0referencing the British empire. WHICH IS SUCH A WEIRD THING TO THINK ABOUT. I say that while living in a place that is often times just as imperialistic as Britain was at one point, except we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a lot more insidious about it. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a topic that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been on my mind, too, since I just got back from a trip in Europe and the UK.<\/p>\n Specifically, this section reminded me of one singular experience: visiting the National War Museum inside Edinburgh Castle. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always had a weird relationship with museums because you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ignore how many of them exist specifically\u00c2\u00a0due<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to imperialism. How many museums are full of things that were looted and stolen from other countries? Other peoples? Other cultures? I can appreciate the difficult process of untangling these paths, but at the very least, I hope museums can exhibit an awareness of how these sort of things affect their collections. Yet the National War Museum is shockingly unaware, and I suppose I shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be surprised, given that it is a WAR MUSEUM. (It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in the name, Mark. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S IN THE GODDAMN NAME.) Multiple times throughout this museum, there are references to the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153great Indian invasion.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Imperialist regimes are referred to with words like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153glory\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153duty\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153righteousness.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a particularly horrifying exhibit where a scrap of a turban is on display; it was stolen from someone who was conquered, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a tiny quote from the descendent of one of the men who brutalized countless countries, cultures, and peoples. The woman was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153distressed\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by \u00e2\u20ac\u0153what befell those people,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as if a natural weather phenomenon happened to them.<\/p>\n It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all about the perspective, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Pratchett makes that joke about why the two sides are trying to claim Leshp. One side sees it as part of a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pioneering spirit.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The other side sees them as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unprincipled opportunists.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The records relating to the lost country date back several hundreds years, my lord. And they are of course\u00c2\u00a0our<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0records.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Only ours?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I hardly see how any others could apply,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Mr. Slant severely.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Klatchian ones, for example?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Vimes, from the far end of the table.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the point Pratchett is trying to make. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a relativity at work here, and the deliberate way that the civic leaders refuse to acknowledge that is disturbing. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how these conflicts happen, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much easier to ignore other realities and other points of view and to construct a narrative that supports yourself:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not going to take their word for it, are we?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Slant, pointedly ignoring him. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Excuse me, my lord, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe that proud Ankh-Morpork is told what to do by a bunch of thieves with towels on their heads.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Good lord. The racism on display here is so much more direct than I expected, you know? But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of the reason this war is developing. This key difference \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a way people wear clothing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is the simplest way to point out that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re different, and that difference is\u00c2\u00a0wrong<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the way they do things in Ankh-Morpork, so why should they listen to\u00c2\u00a0them<\/i>?<\/p>\n You saw some lad with a face that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d got camels written all over it, and when he opened his mouth it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d turn out he had an Ankhian accent so think you could float rocks. Oh, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all the jokes about funny food and foreigners, but surely\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n Not very funny jokes, come to think of it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. I love that Vimes has this sudden realization of how a kind of behavior that was always innocuous to him before is\u00c2\u00a0actually<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0part of something a lot darker. Those jokes were always amusing to him, and he was just\u00c2\u00a0joking<\/i>, right? Except those jokes establish Klatchians as the Other, and it makes everything that follows even easier to justify. Their food is funny. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re foreign. How long until a culture starts believing that these people don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really belong?<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Many of them don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like Klatch\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s current expansionist outlook, but they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like us much, either.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Whyever not?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Lord Selachii.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, because during our history those we haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t occupied we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve tended to wage war on,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Lord Vetinari. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153For some reason the slaughter of thousands of people tends to stick in the memory.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n !!!!!!!!!!!! how is this happening HOW IS THIS REAL. Look, this is all so\u00c2\u00a0complex<\/i>, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the reasons I love it. Pratchett could have just stuck with a conflict that had a much more one-note style of prejudice at work, but he addresses so many things in this conversation. Here, he talks of societal memory and how oppressors often refuse to understand why the people they oppressed might not like them. Again, not to make this all AMERICA AMERICA, WE ARE THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, but I had the luck to get assigned a fantastic book during college that helped explain this phenomenon:\u00c2\u00a0Why People Hate America<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0by Ziauddin Sardar and Meryl Wynn Davies. It speaks to this same kind of memory that can outlast generations, that can be passed through families and laws and social norms. But to these men, the idea is ridiculous! They haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00c2\u00a0personally<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0done anything wrong to the Klatchians (they have, this section is LITTERED with examples of it), so why are they so mad\u00c2\u00a0right now<\/i>?<\/p>\n He tossed the paper aside. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Taxation, gentlemen, is very much like dairy farming. The task is to extract the maximum amount of milk with the minimum of moo. And I am afraid to say that these days all I get is moo.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n YES, TERRY PRATCHETT, DRAG ALL THESE RICH ASSHOLES THROUGH THE MUD AND EXPOSE THEM FOR BEING HYPOCRITICAL ASSHOLES WHO DEMAND USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS\u00c2\u00a0CONSTANTLY<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0FOR THEIR OWN NEEDS, BUT WHO GO OUT OF THEIR WAY TO REFUSE TO EVER CONTRIBUTE TO THEM.\u00c2\u00a0FINISH THEM<\/b>.<\/p>\n So in that sense, I think it was smart for Vetinari to just\u00c2\u00a0let<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0all these men fund their own armies to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fight\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Klatch. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a disaster waiting to happen, sure, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one that will most likely backfire on the civic leaders more than anyone else. At least I\u00c2\u00a0hope<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0so. I understand Vimes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reluctancy here, of course, because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s concerned for the collateral damage. Who will get caught up in this pointless, bigoted war? How many innocent bystanders will get swept up into it?<\/p>\n Thus, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fitting that this scene is followed by a parallel: the Skats and the Mohocks, two street gangs who are always on the edge of some huge battle, but who are tempered by Corporal Carrot. Here, Carrot finds a way to get them to get along in the purest, most simplistic sense. He strips them of weapons and distracts them with games. These are two groups who absolutely\u00c2\u00a0despise<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0each other, and yet, Carrot finds a way to pacify them, if even for the moment.<\/p>\n Can Vimes find a way to pacify Klatch and Ankh-Morkpork?<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=X5TS16WJQ8w<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards. I POST A LOT OF CUTE PHOTOS, OKAY. Think of it like a private Tumblr blog that only SPECIAL PEOPLE get to read.<\/b> In the second part of\u00c2\u00a0Jingo, Vimes and Vetinari suspect the future is about to get really messy. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Discworld.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[451],"tags":[521,463,248],"class_list":["post-3973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-jingo","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-terry-pratchett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3973\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– I have updated my list of conventions and events for the remainder of the year and much of next year.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"