The oldest whore on the beat

[slithytove]

During the last meeting of the Nameless, we had some brief talk about writing fiction with an eye towards saleability. Do we call such a writer a prostitute? Or do we call them 'published

Comments

[dr_phil_physics]

Unfortunately it's really a spectrum of possibilities -- can one actually be just a teensy weensy littlest bit of a whore

[slithytove]

The same does for *literal* elder statesmen: politicians. How much should an elected official try to lead the people in the direction he thinks is best, and how much should he follow the desires of the voters and the polls? If he doesn't pay attention to what the voters want at least some of the time, he won't be re-elected. But if that's all he does, he becomes what the 18th century derisively called a 'trimmer', a politician who sails for no port, but trims his sails to catch the prevailing winds