We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.

Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]

Samizdata slogan of the day

Genua had once controlled the river mouth and taxed its traffic in a way that couldn’t be called piracy because it was done by the city government.
– Local-body politics explained (Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad)

8 comments to Samizdata slogan of the day

  • Andy Duncan

    I’m currently working my way through the Terry Pratchett canon, having just finished this morning, spookily enough, Witches Abroad. There’s lots more of this vein, in many of the Pratchett books, particularly Witches Abroad. But it’s not all good news. If you get his non-fiction Discworld book, The Science of Discworld, it’s written in much more of a collectivist vein. Let’s just hope that the great man himself was only really lending his name to the book, and that this collectivism is the responsibility of his two co-authors on that book, Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart.

    And so, Small Gods awaits. I wonder if the Luggage is in it? 🙂

  • David Oakes

    I have sapient pearwood grips on my SIG…

  • Daniel Thomas

    Have not read Science of Disk World. But SoDW2 didnt come across as collectivist at all.

  • C,J, Cook

    I just finished reading “The Hogfather”. Death has got to be one of my favorite Discworld characters.

    Enjoy Small Gods, I think it ranks amongs his best.

  • Eamon Brennan

    No Luggage as I recall, but the Librarian does make an appearance.

    Eamon

  • Andy Duncan

    the Librarian does make an appearance

    Excellent! 😉

  • Mike Holt

    Pratchett is awesome fun to read. His science is collectivist though it is FICTION. Like belief is what causes the gods to have power i.e. Small Gods. Whatever though, it’s fun to read anyway.

  • Pratchett is full of such wisdom. Here’s one that caught my eye from Night Watch:

    One of the hardest lessons of young Sam’s life had been finding out that the people in charge weren’t in charge. It had been finding out that governments were not, on the whole, staffed by people who had a grip, and that plans were what people made instead of thinking.

    And we mustn’t forget this:
    Britain’s best selling living novelist sees where we’re coming from

    Pratchett readers might also find this article by Eric Raymond interesting:
    The Delusion of Expertise