Here in this zinc box
lies a
dead person
or his
legs and his head
or even
less of him
or
nothing, for he was
a
trouble-maker.
He was
recognised as the root of all evil.
Dig him
in. It will be best
if his
wife goes alone to the knacker's yard with him
because
anyone else going
would be
a marked man.
What is
in that zinc box
has been
egging you on to all sorts of things:
Getting
enough to eat
And
having somewhere dry to live
And
feeding one's children
And
insisting on one's exact wages
And
solidarity with all
who are
oppressed like yourselves. And
thinking.
What is
in that zinc box said
that
another system of production was needed
and that
you, the masses of labour in your millions
must
take over.
Until
then things won't get better for you.
And
because what is in the zinc box said that
it was
put into the zinc box and must be dug in
as a
trouble-maker who egged you on.
And
whoever now talks of getting enough to eat
And
whoever of you wants somewhere dry to live
And
whoever of you insists on his exact wages
And
whoever of you wants to feed his children
And
whoever thinks, and proclaims his solidarity
with all
who are oppressed -
from now
on throughout eternity
he will
be put into a zinc box like this one
as a
trouble-maker and dug in.
Bertolt
Brecht
(Picture: Coffin and grave, Caspar David Friedrich)
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