Boots theory

File:Boots (drawing).jpg

The Sam Vimes theory of socioeconomic unfairness, often called simply the boots theory, is an economic theory that people in poverty have to buy cheap and subpar products that need to be replaced repeatedly, proving more expensive in the long run than more expensive items. The term was coined by English fantasy writer Sir Terry Pratchett in his 1993 Discworld novel Men at Arms. In the novel, Sam Vimes, the captain of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, illustrates the concept with the example of boots.

The theory has been cited with regard to analyses of the prices of boots, fuel prices, and economic conditions in the United Kingdom.

Conception

In the Discworld series of novels by Terry Pratchett, Sam Vimes is the captain of the City Watch of the fictional city-state of Ankh-Morpork.{{Cite news|last=Flood|first=Alison|date=2022-01-26|title=Terry Pratchett estate backs Jack Monroe's idea for 'Vimes Boots' poverty index|language=en|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jan/26/terry-pratchett-jack-monroe-vimes-boots-poverty-index|access-date=2022-02-05|archive-date=2022-03-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220329192126/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jan/26/terry-pratchett-jack-monroe-vimes-boots-poverty-index|url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Richards |first=Carl |date=2016-02-01 |title=Spend the Money for the Good Boots, and Wear Them Forever |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/your-money/spend-the-money-for-the-good-boots-and-wear-them-forever.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited |access-date=2023-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230520182351/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/your-money/spend-the-money-for-the-good-boots-and-wear-them-forever.html |archive-date=2023-05-20 |issn=0362-4331}} In the 1993 novel Men at Arms, the second novel focusing on the City Watch through Vimes' perspective, Vimes muses on how expensive it is to be poor:{{Cite news |last=Whitbrook |first=Jack |date=2022-01-26 |title=Discworld's Famous 'Boots Theory' Is Putting a Spotlight On Poverty in the UK |language=en |work=Gizmodo |url=https://gizmodo.com/jack-monroe-vimes-boots-index-discworld-terry-pratchett-1848426453 |access-date=2023-05-20 |archive-date=2023-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230520182345/https://gizmodo.com/jack-monroe-vimes-boots-index-discworld-terry-pratchett-1848426453 |url-status=live }}

{{blockquote|The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. ... A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. ... But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.{{break}}This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socio-economic unfairness.{{Cite book |last=Pratchett |first=Terry |title=Men at Arms |date=1993 |publisher=Gollancz |isbn=0-575-05503-0 |location=London |pages=32 |oclc=29470107}}

}}

In the New Statesman, Marc Burrows hypothesized Pratchett drew inspiration from Robert Tressell's 1914 novel The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists.{{Cite news|last=Burrows|first=Marc|date=2022-01-28|title=Your best ally against injustice? Terry Pratchett|language=en-US|work=New Statesman|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/comment/2022/01/your-best-ally-against-injustice-terry-pratchett|access-date=2022-02-09|archive-date=2022-02-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215055412/https://www.newstatesman.com/comment/2022/01/your-best-ally-against-injustice-terry-pratchett|url-status=live}} In the book Fashion in the Fairy Tale Tradition, Rebecca-Anne C. Do Rozario argued "shoes and economic autonomy are inexorably linked" in fairy tales, citing the Boots theory as "particularly relevant" and "an insightful metaphor for inequality".{{Cite book |last=Do Rozario |first=Rebecca-Anne C. |title=Fashion in the Fairy Tale Tradition: What Cinderella Wore |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2018 |isbn=978-3-319-91100-7 |location=Cham, Switzerland |pages=180, 213 |chapter=Shoes, the Sole of Fairy Tale: Stepping Between Desire and Damnation |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-_VeDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA180}}

Examples

Since the publication of Men at Arms, others have also made reference to the theory.

In 2013, an article by the US ConsumerAffairs made reference to the theory in regard to purchasing items on credit, specifically regarding children's boots from the retailer Fingerhut; a $25 pair of boots, at the interest rates being offered, would cost $37 if purchased over seven months.{{Cite news |last=Abel |first=Jennifer |date=2013-11-14 |title=Fingerhut boots and the Vimes' Boots paradox |url=https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/fingerhut-boots-and-the-vimes-boots-paradox-111413.html |access-date=2022-02-08 |newspaper=ConsumerAffairs |language=en |archive-date=2022-02-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208213650/https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/fingerhut-boots-and-the-vimes-boots-paradox-111413.html |url-status=live }} In 2016, the left-wing blog Dorset Eye also ran an article discussing the theory, giving fuel poverty in the United Kingdom as an example of its application, citing a 2014 Office for National Statistics (ONS) report that those who pre-paid for electricity—who were most likely to be subject to fuel poverty—paid 8% more on their electricity bills than those who paid by direct debit.{{Cite web |last=Deverell |first=Mike |date=2016-01-05 |title=Mike Deverell discusses five reasons why those with less end up paying more |url=https://dorseteye.com/mike-deverell-discusses-five-reasons-why-those-with-less-end-up-paying-more/ |website=Dorset Eye |language=en-GB |access-date=2022-02-08 |archive-date=2022-02-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208210654/https://dorseteye.com/mike-deverell-discusses-five-reasons-why-those-with-less-end-up-paying-more/ |url-status=live }}

In a 2020 discussion paper for the Social and Political Research Foundation, Sitara Srinivas used the theory to analyze how sustainable fashion is inaccessible compared to fast fashion.{{Cite report |url=https://sprf.in/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Sustainability-and-Fast-Fashion.pdf |title=STITCHING A NEW NARRATIVE: ENGAGING WITH SUSTAINABILITY IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY |last=Srinivas |first=Sitara |year=2020 |access-date=2023-06-14 |archive-date=2023-05-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516010117/https://sprf.in/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Sustainability-and-Fast-Fashion.pdf |url-status=live }} In an article titled "The Price of Poverty" published in Tribune Magazine in 2022, the theory was cited as explaining the economic predicament in the United Kingdom. Examples provided included the higher cost of renting compared to home ownership, higher interest rates for loans to impoverished people, the effects of food poverty on educational advancement, and healthcare costs.{{Cite news |last=Deer |first=Rae |date=2022-06-23 |title=The Price of Poverty |language=en-GB |volume=57 |work=Tribune Magazine |issue=2 |url=https://tribunemag.co.uk/2022/06/inflation-prices-cost-of-living-crisis-energy-food-housing |access-date=2022-09-23 |issn=0195-6663 |archive-date=2022-09-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923025005/https://tribunemag.co.uk/2022/06/inflation-prices-cost-of-living-crisis-energy-food-housing |url-status=live }}

References

External links

[https://www.vimesbootsindex.co.uk/ vimesbootsindex.co.uk]

Category:Discworld

Category:Economic theories

Category:Microeconomics

Category:Boots

Category:Economy of the United Kingdom

Category:Economic inequality

Category:Poverty

Boots theory

Conception

Examples

See also

References

External links