THE EQUILIBRIUM LESSON

(A classroom at the Institute for the Advancement of Dictatorships. A large window offers a view of Lake Geneva. The lake lies beneath an overcast sky. From time to time, the light breaks through, scattering brief, unsettled reflections across the water. Students sit at small desks. An instructor stands at the front.)

The Instructor

Today we have two seminar presentations. Antoine, please begin.

(Antoine rises and goes to the blackboard. He draws two small squares.)

Antoine

Before acting, each considers the other. Each adjusts to what the other does. This may unfold step by step. Or it may be settled at once.

The Instructor

Will this make a difference?

Antoine

It does not. The outcome is the same. And it is elegant. Each does best, given what the others do.

The Other Students

Each does best.

Heinrich

They do not.

The Instructor

Heinrich.

(a brief pause)

Come to the board.

(Heinrich rises and joins Antoine at the blackboard.)

Heinrich

Antoine would be right if all were the same. But they are not. That is why we are here.

The Other Students

We are here to lead.

(Heinrich wipes away one of the small squares and draws a much larger one in its place. He points to it.)

Heinrich

This is the leader. He knows all others will think like Antoine.

The Instructor

What does this imply?

Heinrich

He dictates the outcome. If all others think like Antoine, he alone can be strong.

Antoine

Without a temporal order, your leader is no different from the others.

Heinrich

It is a mind game.

Antoine

It is. But without a temporal order, all are the same.

Heinrich

I begin to wonder why Antoine is attending this school.

(The Other Students chuckle.)

The Instructor

Silence!

(turning to Antoine and Heinrich.)

And if the two of you continue like this, you will end up as academics.

(More chuckling.)

The Instructor

Silence!

(The classroom calms down. The door at the back opens. Caesar enters.)

Caesar

Time matters.

(He walks to the window and looks out at the lake, where darker clouds are forming and the low rumble of distant thunder can be heard. Then he turns back.)

I chose mine.

The First Student

Your Rubicon.

Caesar

There was no turning back.

The First Student

How did it turn out for you?

Caesar

I became Caesar. What you all aspire to become.

The Other Students

Dictators.

The First Student

I intend to last longer than you did.

(The Instructor looks toward the lake, where a flash of lightning is mirrored on the water.)

Caesar

It worked in the short run, and it could have lasted.

The Other Students

It could have lasted.

The First Student

But it did not. You tied your own hands too tightly.

Caesar

I remember my hands. On Cleopatra.

(The Other Students giggle.)

The Instructor

Let us return to the lesson!

Caesar

Irreversibility matters. Once set in motion, it cannot be undone.

The Other Students

A doomsday machine.

The First Student

I am beginning to feel uneasy. Shall we wake Napoleon?

The Instructor

He is in a deep sleep.

The First Student

It is important to wake him.

The Instructor

So we shall.

(After a while, Napoleon enters, rubbing his eyes.)

Napoleon

Is Betsy here?

The Instructor

I am afraid not, Your Majesty.

Napoleon

Why am I here, then?

Caesar

You are here to show our young aspiring dictators what commitment can do.

Napoleon

I always tried to keep my options open. In Poland, I let them hope. At Tilsit, I agreed without settling.

The First Student

But you crossed your Rubicon in Russia.

Napoleon

In retrospect, yes. I guess I underestimated the winter and what it requires.

The Other Students

The winter. The winter.

The First Student

History repeated itself soon enough.

Caesar

You speak of the barbarians?

Heinrich

We are not barbarians.

The First Student

Yet you made the same mistake.

Heinrich

We tried to align.

The First Student

Hitler and Stalin.

Heinrich

Geography commands it.

The First Student

Not today. Perhaps in Caesar’s or Napoleon’s time—before rockets.

Caesar and Napoleon

Rockets?

The Instructor

Rockets ignore distance. Physical borders no longer protect.

Caesar and Napoleon

That’s scary.

The Other Students

We like what is scary.

Antoine

Nothing is frightening in equilibrium.

The First Student

Then we will not be in equilibrium.