Summary: The superheroes of Worm regularly fight against existential threats called Endbringers, and have to work together with villains (some of whom are neo-nazis) to do it. They’ve been able to set up rules to ensure the villains can co-operate (no arrests, no using villains as bait, everyone gets medical attention afterwards), without which the Endbringers would win. However, the linked chapter explains that they’ve failed to extend this to post-fight celebrations, since the public won’t accept any form of moral equivalence. Since the public will protest if villains are honoured for their sacrifices, and the villains riot if heroes are honoured but villains are not, no-one gets honoured.
I think “petty things don’t matter” connotes that the differences are small on an absolute scale and that working together demonstrates this, not that the differences are merely small in relation to the goal on which everyone works together. The latter is honoring Nazis for their sacrifices; the former is saying “the fact that Nazis can sacrifice shows that it’s not important to oppose Naziism”.
If you were writing any story in which the protagonist works with Nazis or neo-Nazis, you’d want them to face a greater threat—perhaps an existential threat, like nuclear war in the time when the USSR existed. Otherwise you’d be writing a ridiculous straw-man.
Interesting note for people who’ve read “Worm”—gur svefg Raqoevatre gb nccrne va gur jbeyq bs gur fgbel jnf enqvbnpgvir, gur frpbaq bprna-eryngrq, naq gur fpnel bar znxrf zr guvax bs NTV.
Do you have a summary? I don’t want to bother reading that.
Summary: The superheroes of Worm regularly fight against existential threats called Endbringers, and have to work together with villains (some of whom are neo-nazis) to do it. They’ve been able to set up rules to ensure the villains can co-operate (no arrests, no using villains as bait, everyone gets medical attention afterwards), without which the Endbringers would win. However, the linked chapter explains that they’ve failed to extend this to post-fight celebrations, since the public won’t accept any form of moral equivalence. Since the public will protest if villains are honoured for their sacrifices, and the villains riot if heroes are honoured but villains are not, no-one gets honoured.
I think “petty things don’t matter” connotes that the differences are small on an absolute scale and that working together demonstrates this, not that the differences are merely small in relation to the goal on which everyone works together. The latter is honoring Nazis for their sacrifices; the former is saying “the fact that Nazis can sacrifice shows that it’s not important to oppose Naziism”.
If you were writing any story in which the protagonist works with Nazis or neo-Nazis, you’d want them to face a greater threat—perhaps an existential threat, like nuclear war in the time when the USSR existed. Otherwise you’d be writing a ridiculous straw-man.
Interesting note for people who’ve read “Worm”—gur svefg Raqoevatre gb nccrne va gur jbeyq bs gur fgbel jnf enqvbnpgvir, gur frpbaq bprna-eryngrq, naq gur fpnel bar znxrf zr guvax bs NTV.