Posted by Gabriele Guenther on June 29, 1999 at 13:36:18:
In Reply to: Vance and Politics posted by Tim Stretton on June 29, 1999 at 03:24:56:
Tim Stretton's remarks are perceptive, re politics and Cugel.
As for the politics, Vance doesn't just take the easy option of
the individual against a (sick) society, he also lays great
emphasis on justice (almost all the books apart from the Cugel
ones), and justice as a social matter, not just an individual
crusade (though there's plenty of that).
Can one ever imagine Vance as saying á la Thatcher, "There is no
such thing as society"?, or advocating "trickle-down" economics?
On the whole, Vance pushes a "natural justice" ideal, and this
is not incompatible with quite a range of politics, left to
right. He also doesn't push a mechanical view of history,
i.e. "natural" progress or pre-destination ..... whether
Marxian or (e.g.) á la Friedmann/Ayn Rand.....
But rather he sees history as contingent, and occasionally in
need of correction.
And as for Cugel, maybe I am influenced too much by his reform at the end of the second book --- he is certainly very spiteful
otherwise.