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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 2 months ago by 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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[–] 2 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Heartily agree about the origin, altho modern 'dragons' additionally want to use their hoard to warp reality around them to conform to their vision & tastes.

Meanwhile, their wealth tends to provide huge insulating effects from reality, meaning it's super easy for them to go off track in to batshit-crazy territory. Or at least territory that's essentially toxic for most other life around them.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    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.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months 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.

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