On Mon, 26 Aug 2002, Scott Ingram wrote: > >Heh, actually I found it depressing AND I rubbed my hands with glee >as Vlad 'gifted' her with authority over his Teckla area. Quite the >conundrum for social activist Cawti. After all, she can't just ignore >his 'gift' as another Jhereg would take over the area... so, she'd be >stuck operating it... trying to be a 'politically correct' gangster, >all the while knowing that if she didn't have brothels or gambling >dens, all the Teckla whom she was trying to save from themselves, >would just go elsewhere... > I can see her trying different schemes, such as kicking out all the pimps and collectivizing the brothels, plowing profits back into the area in the form of education and social services, turning the loan sharking into a more benevolent microloan system (although Vlad makes it sound like that's what it is anyway), and for the gambling... Hm. Well, for the relatively wealthy, or tourists (wealthy enough to travel, and only gambling part-time anyway) it's not such a big deal. For those who are so addicted that they impoverish themselves, perhaps she could set up system where those who bust out are steered to something that will refocus their efforts (for example, instead of loaning them more money to lose, let them work off their debt by volunteering in her social services collective). Can drug addiction or gambling addiction be cured sorcerously, I wonder? In other words, compromising enough to the point where she recognizes that the Jhereg make their money because they exploit the flaws in human nature, and while she can clean up the worst excesses, she has to take those flaws into account in her planning, or fail utterly. And at least from what we see in "Orca", she's not doing too badly.