RESISTING FASCISM ~ Weitiko Principle by Christopher Soucy
Christopher Soucy is a playwright living in Savannah, Georgia. He has been a theater professional in the south east for over thirty years and is a co-founder of Odd Lot Improv and Savannah Shakes Theater Company.
www.soucywrites.com
IG: @soucywriter
FACEBOOK: @soucyman
~ Excerpt published by permission, all rights held by the playwright.
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MARGEI don’t know how to handle this deep hatred I have for those mother fuckers.
CHOGANYeah... that’s a toughy.
MARGEI’ve tried to purge them from my life... But they make up half the goddamn country. I don’t know who’s safe.
CHOGANMmm... maybe no one is.
MARGEMaybe.
CHOGAN
You want to combat the evil?
MARGEYes!
CHOGANGood. To make it easier, you must think of the evil as a disease.
MARGEWhat?
CHOGANA disease. Spreading rampantly throughout the land.
MARGEWhat kind of disease?
CHOGANSelfishness. Greed. Excess. All of these things inspire people to cannibalize their fellow human beings.
MARGEThose are choices, not a disease.
CHOGANPerhaps. But when we think of it like a disease, it makes sense to still engage with those infected. We hope that they will come to health. We hope that we can provide a means for them to come to health.
MARGEThat’s crazy. That won’t work. They don’t think they are sick!
CHOGANAnd that is why it spreads so virulently. Fight the evil. Not the person. Forgive the person.
MARGEI can’t.
CHOGANAnd that’s okay. I’m not saying it’s easy. I’m not sayingbyou’ll succeed. But you must not let the same evil consume you.
MARGEWhat? I’m not!
CHOGANNo? You are not feeding your rage. Pitting yourself against everything and everyone.
MARGEThey’re wrong.
CHOGANAnd they will never learn to be right if they are cut off from examples. If you vilify them, they will respond with villainy.
MARGEBut they won’t change.
CHOGANNo. They won’t. But what’s important, truly important, is for you not to change. For you not to give in to fear and hate and prejudice.
MARGEThis is ridiculous. You don’t know what you’re talking about.
CHOGANI’m a figment of your imagination. A slightly racist figment. But, I’ll let it slide. The nation is facing a terrible crisis. My people call it Wetiko. An evil that preys upon the spirit. It contaminates and twists otherwise good people into selfish acts.
MARGEIt sounds like you’re asking me to just roll over.
CHOGANWhat? No. Fight. Fight with everything you have. Show nobility. Show understading. For as selfishness can be spread from person to person, so can compassion.
MARGEWhat if I fail?
CHOGANWe do not do these things to succeed. We do them because they are right. And sometimes, what is right does not win. But that is no reason to stop trying.
MARGE So... what? I just let these fucking pieces of shit back into my life?
CHOGANNo. God no. But maybe stop filling yourself up so full of venom that it comes spilling out so readily. Try to evaluate the people in your life on an individual basis. Perhaps, some of those you have cut out of your life may have a place in it after all.
MARGEYou think I should take Ben back?
CHOGANFuck no! That guy’s an asshole and a half.
MARGEOkay... Thanks.
CHOGANDon’t thank me... I’m probably just a manifestation of a Wikipedia article you read once and forgot about.
MARGERight...
CHOGANGood luck.
MARGEThanks.
CHOGANIt’ll be hard, but it will be worth it.
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