Mao or Gandhi?

Do you want to win?

I certainly don’t want to lose.

Let me reframe: Are you compelled to win?

By whom? Sorry for the question. I need clarity.

By yourself. Are you driven to win?

At times.

Reframing again: Are you perpetually driven to win? Is winning the reason for your existence? Will you do anything to win?

No. There’s a season for everything.

Is every moment a competition?

One could see it that way, I suppose.

Did I ask if you supposed? Did I ask if one could see it that way? Do you demand to win? Will you accept nothing less than victory, with every breath you take?

Sounds exhausting.

Loser!

That’s not a question.

Questions are a waste of time!

I disagree.

I will crush you!

Why? (I suppose I must start asking the questions now.)

You are weak!

We used to have such stimulating conversations. Why are you shouting?

You have contempt for the nation and its people! You are an abomination to the gods! You are a disgrace! I will crush you.

And what am I to do now? Leave? Roll over?

You will do as I say.

That’s the danger, isn’t it? When one commands there will always be those who follow, who need to follow.

Have you stopped assaulting children yet?

What? I never . . .

Perverted antipatriotic scum!

Liar.

I grind you beneath my heel.

There are limits.

Traitor! Radical!

The veneer of civilization is thin.

Coward! Enemy of the nation.

You leave me with a terrible choice.

The time for choosing is over. You chose wrong.

I haven’t chosen yet.

Mao or Gandhi?