Welcome to the Alternate Economy

Fargo 4×1

Ethelrida Pearl Smutny: This report isn't about my history. It's about our history... Kansas City, Missouri. In the beginning there were the Hebrews, and they ran the underworld. Then came the Irish...

Ethelrida Pearl Smutny: Logic dictates that in every fight, there is a winner and a loser. But this is a history report. And what does history tell us? Peace don't last for long. The Italians came next...

Ethelrida Pearl Smutny: That's how it worked. Whoever was last off the boat, finding the doors of honest capital closed, rolled up their sleeves and got to work, getting rich the old-fashioned way.

Ethelrida Pearl Smutny: Webster's defines "assimilation" as... "the process of becoming similar to something." You can check it if you want, but it's factual. But imbibing these words, dear reader, we are forced to ask, similar to what?

Ethelrida Pearl Smutny: If America is a nation of immigrants, then how does one become American?

Ethelrida Pearl Smutny: Winston Churchill said, "History is written by the victors." That's a fancy word for winner.

Ethelrida Pearl Smutny: Here's the thing about America: the minute you relax and fatten up... somebody hungrier's gonna come along, looking for a piece of your pie.

Loy Cannon: Keep your head down. If there's trouble, swing for the balls, then the eyes.

Don Fadda: Learn everything. Sleep with one eye open. Be as Daniel in the lion's den.

Ethelrida Pearl Smutny: And here's what you need to know about the people in that room. None of them were white. They were dagos, Negroes, micks, all fighting for the right to have been created equal. But equal to what? And who gets to decide?

Ethelrida Pearl Smutny: And that leads me to this conclusory idea, dear reader, which is that history is made up of the actions of individuals. And yet, none of us can know at the time we act that we are making history.

Mr. Winckle: I'll give you this, you boys have got a hell of an imagination. But the people I see day in, day out... hardworking people, family men... well, they're just not gonna spend money they don't have. And charging 'em high rates of interest, preying on 'em when times get tough, well, that's just not what banking's all about.

Oraetta Mayflower: When using illicit substances, it's very important to avoid obvious physical tells: redness of the eyes, inflamed epidermal tissue, say around the proboscis.
Josto Fadda: You got a funny way of talking.
Oraetta Mayflower: Yep. I'm from Minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes.
Josto Fadda: No, I mean... you use big words.
Oraetta Mayflower: Well, I've found in my 36 years on God's green Earth that it's absolutely critical to be precise in your use of language so as to avoid instances of misreckoning.

Josto Fadda: He's in a lot of pain. And I don't like to see him like that. Will you take care of him?
Oraetta Mayflower: I shall attend to him faithfully until the Lord arrives.
Josto Fadda: Aces.

Oraetta Mayflower: Okay, my lovely, no need to fret. Mama's here... Does it hurt, my lovely? This earthly realm.

Oraetta Mayflower: I'm a people person, don'tcha know. Now, rest up, old-timer, for your Lord won't want you if you're ornery.

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