[Dragaera] Liberals

[Christopher Martin via Dragaera]

<<But I should have been more explicit (again).  First, I think the Dragons
will
hate being part of something called the Jhereg Guard and wearing Jhereg
colors.
Second, I think they'll hate enforcing laws that were passed only to
increase
the Jhereg's income.  Third, I think they'll have to leave Jhereg businesses
mostly alone, and bribes from others will largely go to Jhereg commanders,
leaving less for the Dragon rank and file.>>

I think this misses a big point about Dragaeran culture - its fluid, and
the dragons we see in the books today, when the Dragon is near the top of
the Cycle, are not the Dragons you would see when they are near the
bottom.  My sense is that all the qualities that are present in Dragons
/Athyra / Jhereg / what have you are present at all times, but that certain
qualities are heightened or more dominant during the parts of the cycle
when they are ascendant.  There have been plenty of corrupt regimes that
functioned perfectly well for human societies, for example, and soldiers
served under them - one would expect the Dragon penchant for blood and
honor to be simply more thuggish in a Jhereg reign.

Which raises the interesting point that the Jhereg we see in the books are
the Jhereg at the bottom of the cycle - feuding, squabbling, bickering over
small pieces of territory, etc.  I envision a more Anhk-Morpork-ian
"organized crime" when the Jhereg are at the top of the Cycle.