A worker reads and asks questions Bertolt Brecht Who built seven-gated Thebes In the books you’ll find the names of kings. Was it the kings that lugged !those hunks of rock? And what of Babylon, so often demolished? Who rebuilt it time and again? In which Of golden Lima’s houses lived its builders? On the day the Chinese Wall was finished where Did the masons go in the evening? Great Rome Is full of triumphal arches. Who raised them? Over whom Did the Caesars triumph? Had Byzantium of the songs Palaces only, for its inhabitants? Even in fabulous Atlantis, The very night the sea swallowed it, The drowning still bawled for their slaves. Young Alexander conquered India. All alone? Caesar defeated the Gauls. Didn’t he have so much as a cook with him? Phillip of Spain wept when his fleet Sank. Did no others shed tears? Frederick the Second won the Seven Year War. Who else? A victory on every page. Who cooked the victory feast? A great man every ten years. Who paid the bill? So many accounts. So many questions.of kings. Was it the kings that lugged those hunks of rock? And what of Babylon, so often demolished? Who rebuilt it time and again? In which Of golden Lima’s houses lived its builders? On the day the Chinese Wall was finished where Did the masons go in the evening? Great Rome Is full of triumphal arches. Who raised them? Over whom Did the Caesars triumph? Had Byzantium of the songs Palaces only, for its inhabitants? Even in fabulous Atlantis, The very night the sea swallowed it, The drowning still bawled for their slaves. Young Alexander conquered India. All alone? Caesar defeated the Gauls. Didn’t he have so much as a cook with him? Phillip of Spain wept when his fleet Sank. Did no others shed tears? Frederick the Second won the Seven Year War. Who else? A victory on every page. Who cooked the victory feast? A great man every ten years. Who paid the bill?
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21stcenturymanifesto
So many accounts. So many questions. Translated by Jack Mitchell
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21stcenturymanifesto