Page 46 - Big Idea

The Big Idea – Act 2

A place where dried meat may be stored against famine,
Close to some reliable sources of water—
So hunger and thirst will cease to threaten our lives;

A place where permanent shelter may be built
Of the strongest materials available:
Mighty boulders reinforced with trunks of tall trees;

A place capable of withstanding all attacks,
Protecting its inhabitants from the worst
That man or beast or weather can throw against it;

A place, finally, where rulers are not needed,
Except to adjudicate those minor disputes
Arising from mutual misunderstanding:

That would follow from requiring all citizens
To behave according to universal rules;
The principle of equity would serve as law.

Those of us with great energy and ambition
Could use their free time for purely personal goals,
Unhindered as long as they harm no one else.

Whereas others among who’d rather relax,
Could simply take part in the minimum labor
Needed to maintain ourselves and the common walls.

Women could expect fewer of their offspring to die,
And those who survive to grow up much healthier
And be of greater benefit to their parents.

People of similar interests could gather,
In specially designated times and places,
To pursue the development of human skills.

Among those activities would be instruction
In basic skills to the less-gifted citizenry:
Justice demands that they be given a chance to learn.

DEFEATIST: Oh, what’s the use? There could never be a place like
that. If you put one log on top of another, it rolls right off.
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