In later years, though, when Bertolt Brecht reconfigured the play, he sided, as you would expect, with the righteous demands of that same throng, against their trampling overlord.
ONE of the most righteous demands of the newly awakened Arabs is that the tyrants who pillaged their countries and battered the bodies of those who opposed their crimes should face the full force of justice.
"If the righteous demands of the people are ignored and they continue the dam project," he wrote in Weekly Eleven, a popular Yangon-based newspaper, "the people will defend the Irrawaddy with whatever means possible".
It said that "historical experiences make it necessary for the diplomatic apparatus of our country to carefully and sceptically monitor the behaviour of White House officials so that the righteous demands of our nation are recognised and respected by those who favour interaction".
That is precisely why people band together, form organizations, and participate in grassroots movements and campaigns: to construct the collective power needed to make righteous demands politically potent.
What happens when men (yes, men) who think they not only figured it out the world but conquered it in 1945 have to confronted with the just and righteous demand of women, of African-Americans, of the young?
But, not to spoil a good twist, Solondz deliberately undercuts that very mockery, as Fantasy — for all his bravado, pugnacity, vanity, and self-righteous demands — ends up something of a hero whose ambitions, strangely but with an achingly sublime humor, match up with Solondz's as clearly as do Dave's.
In March, an apparent representative of the kidnappers, who call themselves the Band of the Righteous, released a statement demanding a phased release of prisoners, starting with an accused militant, Laith al-Khazali.
It is demanding and righteous and believes what it wants to believe all in an effort to keep us feeling safe, small, comfortable, important, protected etc.
Once again, the Republicans have such a narrative — "declining patriotism and moral standards, the out-of-touch media and the self-righteous liberal elite... minorities demanding special privileges... disrespect for religious faith, a swollen government" — but "Democrats and liberals have not offered compelling narratives that could compete" with it.
