The Grasshopper

Chapter 13

That night Pascal Alexander also did not sleep. After Svetlana left he stayed up for a long time looking down from his window into Consumer Square, where the occasional passerby scurried home, without paying attention to the magnificent fountain, the statues of Mr. Kaella’s grandfather and father, or the stage prepared for Pascal’s speech the following day.

“The stage will be taken down in the morning,” Pascal thought. “I didn’t tell you that, Svetlana. Seneca will not arrest me tomorrow. He told me that I am a free citizen who has not committed any violation. I didn’t want you to worry, to suffer even more, Svetlana, because tomorrow I will go into the square. I will, Svetlana.”

He finally forced himself to sit in the armchair, to take the tablet from the table, place it on his knees and start watching footage of his speeches. He wanted to distil from them what is best… no, not the best, but the parts, the words and ideas that people reacted to the most, with shouts. His thoughts that the people understood.

He started every speech with the words:

“Hello, free people!”

He skipped the usual initial shouts and his waves and thanks.

“We will win these presidential elections. For the first time since the founding of the Company, the State will have a president who will be the president of the free people, and not Kaella’s puppet.”

There, that is where the people shouted out in approval. It was clear to them who governed them.

“On the first day I will slate free elections for Parliament. And when we finally get representatives of free people in their offices, we will do away with the first article of the Constitution and all the others that limit our freedom.”

Just a few voices could be heard. What do people know about Parliament? Most of them don’t even know what the Constitution is. He won’t mention that. He mustn’t confuse the people.

“I will immediately carry out an investigation into how the companies for energy, water and food were acquired at the time by one single family. I promise you, here and now, that the Company, which this family is using to enslave us, will be again listed on the stock exchange and its shares will be handed out to all the citizens. Cosmic Energy is cosmic and it cannot be the property of one dynasty. We will all be owners.”

Now there was a surge of shouts. This can be expanded, emphasized. Repeat several times that all the people will be owners.

“When we resolve the issues of satisfying our basic needs for energy, water and food, we will go back to ourselves, nature, evolution – because all life, just like us, was created through evolution. And it represents nothing other than a struggle in the free market. We will inscribe democracy, free market and protection of competition in the first article of our new Constitution.”

Nothing. Silence. It isn’t the people’s fault. Kaella writes the history textbooks, censures the Internet. How would people know what the world looked like a hundred years ago? He mustn’t confuse them with that. They will slowly, gradually learn this, over time.

“How much of your monthly income goes towards energy, water and food? How much do you pay per month to his son Prince, for the loan for you overpriced apartment, your entire working life? Or rent? Why do we work, why do we live? In order to give Kaella everything that we earn? Is that why we live? Will our descendants also live only to fill the pockets of Kaella’s descendants? No! Its enough!”

Catharsis. That’s the real deal. Telling people about their daily lives, about their bills, through which they overpay for basic living costs.

“And what happens to the remainder of your monthly income? You are required to spend it on things that you don’t need. New clothes and shoes are mandatory every season. Every year a new dishwasher, a new car every two years. And if you don’t buy them the Inspectors take you to prison, take away your apartment, expel your children from school… We refuse!”

The crowd roared “We refuse! We refuse! We refuse!”

“We will spend as much as we want and when we want. We will purchase goods and services that we want. From companies that are capable of offering, through fair competition in a free market, a product that we need, one that we like, one that we want. At a price that we are prepared to pay for them, and not the one that Kaella sets.”

Here the people were shouting more against Kaella’s name than… One should not complicate things with products and services.

Pascal got up suddenly, stopped the recording, angrily threw the tablet on the armchair and frantically walked around the room. After a while, when his steps became slower and his hands dropped by his sides, he approached the window. Closing his eyes, he leaned his forehead on the glass.