Page 64 - Big Idea

The Big Idea – Act 3

With little success, for the reason I have shown—
And with little reason, for its success is known:

Whatever you build will not last even one year.
How do I know? Well, the odds against you are clear;

Chances are high that wind and rain will wreck the walls,
Long before they’re strong enough to withstand the squalls.

INTELLECTUAL: The weather could be nasty, it’s true.

DEFEATIST: That’s how it goes. Nothing you can do about the
weather.

RIVAL 1:
Ah, now that you are willing to make the same bet,
Let us examine another potential threat:

Those who stay behind to build this—this chicken coop
Will find themselves without a place in the old group;

We who are part of the trunk and not the splinter,
Must follow our leader south long before winter.

What will you do when the cold wet winds are blowing,
And nothing worth eating is found to be growing?

INTELLECTUAL: A most difficult question to answer, hypothetical
though it may be.

DEFEATIST: It doesn’t have an answer, anyway.

RIVAL 1:
And does your faith extend to a new age of man,
Where everyone works just as hard as he can?

Will our friend who so cleverly thought up this scheme
Be able to manage you as a single team?

Won’t there be constant fighting over assignments,
Leading to harmful political alignments?

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