How much is your iron?

de Bertolt Brecht

Svendson is an ironmonger who suddenly picks up a new customer; apparently wealthy, and with a healthy desire for Svendson's wares, the customer keeps coming back with orders for iron bars. Still, Svendson's conscience is pricked by this avid stockpiling of weapons (though not enough to stop selling; particularly when he sees some of his fellow merchants also selling to the customer, while his own orders continue to double). Eventually though, Svendson's luck runs out, when the customer eventually stops paying his way. Written in early 1939, 'How Much is Your Iron?' is a one-act agitprop piece that highlights the dangers of appeasement, and questions the morality of trade with a belligerent customer.