ShowerThoughts

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Sometimes we have those little epiphanies in the shower.. sometimes they come from other places. This is a home for those epiphanies.

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Dragons love hoarding gold and other shiny, valuable things. Only a few brave knights ever vanquish them: are the uber-rich just dragons? (fedia.io)

submitted 1 month ago by atro_city@fedia.io to c/showerthoughts@sh.itjust.works

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Are stories about dragons just allegories about the uber-wealthy and the dangers of hoarding wealth?

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[–] jtrek@startrek.website 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'm pretty sure in some dragon stories, the presence of the dragon warps and ruins the surrounding countryside. So dragon as metaphor for greedy rich person still works.

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 1 points 1 month ago

Sure, like the Desolation of Smaug. But that's a situation in which there's a buffer area and danger zone, and everyone but the dwarves know to stay the eff away.

A modern dragon would be more like a virus or cancer that infects everything around them, making it almost impossible to get away at times (or most of the time). Like an invasive weed network with its root system undermining everything below ground, while things seem 'normal' up above.

So, frankly, the dragon analogy kind of breaks down at some point.