[somat]

The Samuel Vimes Boot theory of economic unfairness comes to mind.

Oh wow, it has it's own wikipedia page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory

[ChrisMarshallNY]

Too bad they don't give Nobels for literature posthumously.

That single paragraph could win it.

Well ... maybe I'm biased ...

[kazinator]

I actually have a pair of John Fluevog boots, circa 1999 vintage, which are scuffed but wearable. The most I had to do is glue up some rubber separation in the heels with a bit of epoxy. I wore them as recently as last year; not lately though.