Invincible Summer
15th October 2009, 01:03
He who would build a bridge
must look to his foundations.
A strike to-day
Is but a birdge without the piles.
We need more than a strike.
To strike, at best
will force a peace this once;
A truce, no more.
War must be ended
For all eternity!
[...]
You fools, break the foundations!
Break,
I say, break the foundations!
Then let the mouldering house bolstered
with gold
Be swept away by the avenging flood.
The system that we build will be more habitable;
The factories belong to workers
And not to my lord Capital.
The time is past when our bowed backs
Perched him up greedily to scan for
distant treasure,
Plot wars to enslave foreign folk
And instigate the screech of lying papers:
"Your country! For your country!" -
Drowning their truer tune:
"For me! For me!" -
That time is past!
The masses of all countries cry together:
the factories belong to workers; and the power
To workers
All is for all!
I call more than a strike,
I call: a war!
I call: the Revolution!"
Emphasis mine.
I just wanted to share this. I'm reading this play for my German literature class (which is pretty awesome, because my prof has this strong socialist/Communist undercurrent with all the works she chose) and I found this passage to be very inspiring.
I can't wait for discussion next class, when all the "liberal" and "libertarian" poli-sci students will be offended by the idea of revolution. I remember one girl (a poli sci student, nonetheless) saying "But Communism is a Soviet Union idea. Is it even allowed to be talked about in Germany? I thought the Soviet Union was everyone's enemy"
must look to his foundations.
A strike to-day
Is but a birdge without the piles.
We need more than a strike.
To strike, at best
will force a peace this once;
A truce, no more.
War must be ended
For all eternity!
[...]
You fools, break the foundations!
Break,
I say, break the foundations!
Then let the mouldering house bolstered
with gold
Be swept away by the avenging flood.
The system that we build will be more habitable;
The factories belong to workers
And not to my lord Capital.
The time is past when our bowed backs
Perched him up greedily to scan for
distant treasure,
Plot wars to enslave foreign folk
And instigate the screech of lying papers:
"Your country! For your country!" -
Drowning their truer tune:
"For me! For me!" -
That time is past!
The masses of all countries cry together:
the factories belong to workers; and the power
To workers
All is for all!
I call more than a strike,
I call: a war!
I call: the Revolution!"
Emphasis mine.
I just wanted to share this. I'm reading this play for my German literature class (which is pretty awesome, because my prof has this strong socialist/Communist undercurrent with all the works she chose) and I found this passage to be very inspiring.
I can't wait for discussion next class, when all the "liberal" and "libertarian" poli-sci students will be offended by the idea of revolution. I remember one girl (a poli sci student, nonetheless) saying "But Communism is a Soviet Union idea. Is it even allowed to be talked about in Germany? I thought the Soviet Union was everyone's enemy"