Many years ago, when I was studying German, I came across a series of short stories/vignettes by Bertolt Brecht. The university I studied at was, at least at that time (1975), considered one of the most leftist universities in the world. There were little factions all over. Marxists (of every imaginable flavor, of course!), Leninists, Trotzkyites ... And all of them claimed for themselves what they referred to as the ‘political mandate,’ that is the right and the authority to make political proclamations as students.
We ate lunch each day at a Mensa, or a student cafeteria ... we crossed a bridge to get there, and the bridge was occupied EVERY day, by students of various political factions handing out Flugblätter, or flyers with political info on them. I wrote about Flugblätter once before, when I did a diary on Sophie Scholl in 2011. She and her brother were executed for circulating Flugblätter critical of the Nazi regime.
But I digress ...
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Among the Brecht stories I read were some about a fellow named Herr Keuner. To this day, some of them rank among my favorite Brecht passages of all time, but the one I want to write about tonight is one called <>
I am not going to quote the entire story. It may be found in its entirety, in the original German, in pdf form, here.
It is also available in translation, online, here, and though I AM excerpting some of it, I recommend it very highly! It will not take long to read, it is only 8 paragraphs, total.
Here is a sample, for your reading pleasure this evening.
"If sharks were men," Mr. Keuner was asked by his landlady's little girl, "would they be nicer to the little fishes?"
"Certainly," he said. "If sharks were men, they would build enormous boxes in the ocean for the little fish, with all kinds of food inside, both vegetable and animal. They would take care that the boxes always had fresh water, and in general they would make all kinds of sanitary arrangements. If, for example, a little fish were to injure a fin, it would immediately be bandaged, so that it would not die and be lost to the sharks before its time. So that the little fish would not become melancholy, there would be big water festivals from time to time; because cheerful fish taste better than melancholy ones.
"There would, of course, also be schools in the big boxes. In these schools the little fish would learn how to swim into the sharks' jaws. They would need to know geography, for example, so that they could find the big sharks, who lie idly around somewhere. The principal subject would, of course, be the moral education of the little fish. They would be taught that it would be the best and most beautiful thing in the world if a little fish sacrificed itself cheerfully and that they all had to believe the sharks, especially when the latter said they were providing for a beautiful future.
There are things that Brecht did not include: Sharks imposing a sequester on the little fish. Or denying some little fish the right to marry other little fish. Or wishing to build fences so that little fish from other areas cannot enter at will and on their own timetable, so they can never belong or have any of the rights all other little fish have ... Or that the media would be owned by the sharks, allowed to disseminate only the most innocuous, approved informational chum ...
I’m sure you can think of other examples, in today’s world!
Thank you for reading! On to tonight’s comments!
From HCKAD:
From Deep Harm's diary on the appointment of James Clapper to oversee "independent" NSA review, please consider this comment from rlochow on the distinction between a 'PR problem' and a Constitutional crisis.
From BeninSC:
Flagged by lyvwyr101, this comment by blue in NC suggests using Daily Kos-style 'tags' out and about in the world at large!
Flagged by Mindful Nature, this comment by Garrett presents in-depth information about call records.
Flagged by davidincleveland, this comment by siri distills the NSA story to its essence.
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1) It sounds like you believe by gchaucer2 — 167
2) I'm not rooting for the home team anymore. by BOHICA — 147
3) What is far more disturbing than the by doc2 — 135
4) Every Revolutionary War patriot by Dallasdoc — 123
5) Good For Snowden's Dad by webranding — 122
6) Excellent news. Would love to see that by Yasuragi — 113
7) I've asked all my sock puppets by indycam — 103
8) Spying on Americans and lying to Congress by Enzo Valenzetti — 99
9) Yes by DFWmom — 97
10) Not only that, but the fact an educator by Christian Dem in NC — 97
11) The Snowden Effect by AliceNYC — 94
12) The simple fact is that there by doc2 — 93
13) Nothing is new here. by TomP — 92
14) In network and out of network by nyceve — 88
15) ... by BOHICA — 83
16) ... by BOHICA — 79
17) As long as insurance companies exist... by CanisMaximus — 78
18) unless you catch someone in a demonstrable lie by mallyroyal — 78
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20) Oh One Other Thing by webranding — 72
21) Fein was so fine noting hypocrisy of Feinstein! by CIndyCasella — 71
22) Yes, I'm wondering why by MadRuth — 70
23) Excellent excellent excellent diary! by CenPhx — 68
24) Plus, if Edward Snowden comes back now... by Love Me Slender — 68
25) I would surmise it would be impossible to by Horace Boothroyd III — 68
26) So if Edward Snowden had not shared by Desert Rose — 67
27) pretty sure that I'm one of said "sock puppets" by Remembering Jello — 66
28) Three of my sock puppets by happymisanthropy — 66
29) 2 of my accounts answerd YES to more than 3 by citizenx — 66
30) Ficken should have been by gchaucer2 — 65
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