Five years Quote by Terry Pratchett
““What’s Ephebe like?” said Ptraci. “I’ve never been there. Apparently it’s ruled by a Tyrant.” “I hope we don’t meet him, then” Teppic shook his head. “It’s not like that,” he said. “They have a new Tyrant every five years and they do something to him first.” He hesitated. “I think they ee-lect him.” “Is that something like they do to tomcats and bulls and things?” “Er.” “You know. To make them stop fighting and be more peaceful.” Teppic winced. “To be honest, I’m not sure,” he said. “But I don’t think so. They’ve got something they do it with, I think it’s called a mocracy, and it means everyone in the whole country can say who the new Tyrant is. One man, one—” He paused. The political history lesson seemed a very long while ago, and had introduced concepts never heard of in Djelibeybi or in Ankh-Morpork, for that matter. He had a stab at it anyway. “One man, one vet.” “That’s for the eelecting, then?” He shrugged. It might be, for all he knew. “The point is, though, that everyone can do it. They’re very proud of it. Everyone has—” he hesitated again, certain now that things were amiss—“the vet. Except for women, of course. And children. And criminals. And slaves. And stupid people. And people of foreign extractions. And people disapproved of for, er, various reasons. And lost of other people. But everyone apart from them. It’s a very enlightened civilization.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Discworld – The Fifth Elephant, Terry Pratchett, 1999
The society claims democratic selection of a ruler but excludes many groups, revealing hypocrisy in its “enlightened” claim.
In simple terms: Not all democracies are truly inclusive.
Question who is truly allowed to participate.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- voting reforms
- civil rights advocacy
- community organizing
- policy analysis
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- Who is left out of this “enlightened” system?
- What reforms could make it truly inclusive?
Excludes marginalized groups, undermining legitimacy.