Bertolt Brecht, Super Troll

On Anthony Krammer’s blog, I was pleased to find a poem called The Interrogation of the Good by Brecht that I would claim is in the same spirit as the last few paragraphs of my blog post on Kickstarter. I recently discovered Brecht’s play The Good Person of Szechwan which makes a similar point and partly inspired my thinking.

Let us agree to take this poem in the spirit of lulz that it was no doubt intended:

Step forward: we hear
That you are a good man.

You cannot be bought, but the lightning
Which strikes the house, also
Cannot be bought.
You hold to what you said.
But what did you say?
You are honest, you say your opinion.
Which opinion?
You are brave.
Against whom?
You are wise.
For whom?
You do not consider your personal advantages.
Whose advantages do you consider then?
You are a good friend.
Are you also a good friend of the good people?

Hear us then: we know.
You are our enemy. This is why we shall
Now put you in front of a wall. But in consideration
of your merits and good qualities
We shall put you in front of a good wall and shoot you
With a good bullet from a good gun and bury you
With a good shovel in the good earth.