#and komarr is a textbook example of the neorealist concept of interstate anarchy where it's eat or be eaten

[bonaesperanza]

I love realpolitik and social psychology and works that engage with it in some way and as tired I am of the glorification of oppressive monarchical systems because they have the correct people at the helm, I am equally tired of people pretending that the aristo protagonists can easily solve the entirety of everyone's problems by simply giving up their power and giving everyone equal rights and turning their country into a democracy. As if that wouldn't just result in a) vicious political backlash as the other rich protect their own interests, with few options for countering it and b) probably someone worse filling up the power vacuum that the protagonists just made.

Some works engage with this in more realistic ways and some end up as oppressive system apologia, and it's a thin line to thread and you need to make the worldbuilding and characterization just so if you want to effectively convey your message, but this is exactly what makes it a lot more appealing to read about than either "oh everything is cool now because the Good King (tm) is in power" AND "oh everything is cool now because we shot the evil rich people and this somehow resulted in zero collateral damage and no power vacuum even though everything in the worldbuilding would make you expect such a scenario".

There's also an actual science to when people will rebel and when they won't, and it's generally interesting to read about systems that will push people to the edge of it but never cross it for maximum exploitation value. I think it's kind of enlightening to try to look for that line in fiction (I think Andor does a fair attempt at it).

…also re: the entire discussion of “is it moral to enjoy fictional societies that are less than 100% democratic and egalitarian, and characters who are Not Trying Hard Enough to make them so?”

I’d like to point out that sometimes the fantasy isn’t “this kind of society can be good actually”. Sometimes it’s “this kind of society can change gradually, over time, into something more just and equitable, without having to have the bloody revolution that you guys think the main characters ought to be starting instead of following the actual plot. Because, you know, revolutions? Messy and violent and often hard on the minorities and on anyone who doesn’t fall completely in line with the new order, and often on the people who DO.”