meeting, and there are a good many onlookers, several million, in fact, thanks
to the foreigner with the camera, a television camera with a long snout, a
one-eyed snout that peers and sucks up what it sees. The cameraman focuses
for a long time on the tall dark-haired girl who speaks so eloquently in favor of
a certain decision concerning bringing a certain man back to the capital. But
the millions of onlookers will not understand her argument, which is spoken in
her obscure language and is not translated for them. All they will know is how
the eye snout of the camera lingered on her young face, sticking it.
This is a love story. Two hours later, the cameraman was long gone,
but the committee was still meeting.
"No, listen," she said, "seriously, this is the moment when the betrayal
is always made. Free elections, yes; but if we donтt look past that now, when
will we? And whoтll do it? Are we a country or a client state changing patrons?"
"You have to go one step at a time, consolidatingў"
"When the dam breaks? You have to shoot the rapids! All at once!"
"Itтs a matter of choosing directionў"
"Exactly, direction. Not being carried senselessly by events."
"But all the events are sweeping in one direction."
"They always do. Back! Youтll see!"
"Sweeping to what, to dependence on the West instead of the East,
like Fana said?"
"Dependence is inevitable-realignment, but not occupationў"
"The hell it wonтt be occupation! Occupation by money, materialism,
their markets, their values. You donтt think we can hold out against them, do
you? Whatтs social justice to a color-TV set? That battleтs lost before itтs
fought. Where do we stand?"
"Where we always stood. In an absolutely untenable position."
"Heтs right. Seriously, we are exactly where we always were. Nobody
else is. We are. They have caught up with us, for a moment, for this moment,
and so we can act. The untenable position is the center of power. Now. We can
act now."
"To prevent color-TVzation? How? The damтs broken! The goodies
come flooding in. And we drown in them."
"Not if we establish the direction, the true direction, right nowў"
