We

by Yevgeny Zamyatin

Tomorrow I will see all the same sights that repeat themselves from year to year and are newly exciting every time: the mighty chalice of unanimity, the reverentially raised hands. Tomorrow is the day of the annual election of the Benefactor. Tomorrow, once again, we will offer the Benefactor the keys to the unshakable stronghold of our happiness. It goes without saying that this does not resemble the disordered, disorganized elections of the Ancients, when—it seems funny to say it—the result of an election was not known beforehand. Building a government on totally unaccounted-for happenstance, blindly—what could be more senseless? And yet still, it turns out, it took centuries to understand this.

Ha!