The Rise and Fall of Mahagonny by Bertolt Brecht

Money is the root of all evil. Or so Bertolt Brecht seems to be telling us in his play, The Rise and Fall of Mahagonny in which he illustrates that a city cannot be based solely on the pursuit of monetary gain and earthly pleasures. The city of Mahagonny was founded by Trinity Moses, Lady Bird Begbick and Fatty the Bookie on the basis that money can buy happiness and that by offering all the pleasures of the flesh in one place, they would be able to capitalize on selling happiness. Their sole interest in the endeavor was to take advantage of those people who had worked hard to save money and persuade them to spend it in their "city of nets." In the city of Mahagonny, anything and everything is permitted as long as someone will pay for it. The city is a pleasure utopia that encourages sex, eating, drinking, and fighting for the sole purpose of making money.

In Mahagonny, prostitution is a large source of revenue. Prostitution is not only legal but readily available simply to make money. This is apparent starting in the second scene when Jenny and the other prostitutes arrive in Mahagonny. They sing the Alabama song which tells of how they feel as if they need to prostitute to remain happy. They sing, "For if we don't find the next whisky-bar, I tell you we must die!" It is as if the girls are addicted to the act, and desperate enough to prostitute themselves in order to fulfill other voids in life. The importance of prostitution was again brought out in scene five when Jimmy Gallagher and the lumberjacks from Alaska arrived. As soon as they arrived they were introduced to the prostitutes and told they could have any or as many as they want for the right price; a price which is negotiable. These girls treat themselves as commodities to be bought and sold rather than as individuals with wants and needs of their own. They exist solely to provide pleasure to others, and work to make enough money not to entertain themselves, but to keep themselves fed and drinking to keep their bodies able to continue the job. However, most importantly for the founders is that they make money for the city. Another source of revenue for the city is its food service industry.

The founders encourage the residents to dine out as much as possible. At one point in time one of the lumberjacks from Alaska, with some encouragement from his friends, ate two entire calves and in the process gorged himself to death. Even though he was eating himself to death he was happy and so were the founders because even in death he had to pay for the calves he had eaten. The process of overeating and gorging on food stuffs was popular in the "As You Like It Tavern." Even once the lumberjack had fallen over dead on the last calf, other patrons ran in to partake of the remnants, knowing that it had been paid for by someone else and would cost them nothing. The founders were not concerned with deaths that occurred from this or other pleasure activities in the city because as long as they were making money, they were satisfied. Another deadly activity that was considered one of the pleasure trades was gaming.

The residents gambled regularly during card games in the tavern and during local boxing matches. Even when the odds were completely against one competitor, the match still went on as scheduled. The wise men would bet on the man favored in the fight and would win a lot of money because there were other men who weren't wise enough to bet on the favored party. Thus, the potential for moneymaking was still high and worth the associated risks for the parties involved. This so-called pleasure activity made the founders money so they once again disregarded the loss of life associated with boxing as an allowable cost. The underlying thread that binds each of these activities together is excessive drinking.

Drinking is the largest money making pleasure in Mahagonny. The patrons in the tavern are encouraged to drink as much as they want as often as they like as long as they are able to pay. For instance, Jim Gallagher bought everyone in the tavern a round of drinks and found him self unable to pay due to losing all of his money betting on the games. He faced the death penalty by the courts because although he had spent all of his money in the city, they still expected him to have more money to cover his debt. It was unacceptable for him to cheat the city out of money, but perfectly ok for another man to shoot a friend with his new revolver and face no penalty since the city had lost no money in the action. Drinking is encouraged because it loosens up the patrons to be more prone to partake in other pleasures the city offers. It also helps to loosen there pocketbooks and spend more on negotiable rates for prostitutes and bet higher on boxing matches and card games. Of course, patrons of the tavern who are drinking more are also going to order more food.

The pursuit of these pleasures in and of themselves is not evil. However, when the legal system is corrupted and human lives are placed below the value of money and making money, it quickly becomes that the society crumbles into a heap of thieves, murderers and money hungry politicians. The lack of societal control or common morals and values is what is truly evil. The pursuit of happiness in the form of pleasures of the flesh through monetary means alone is not dangerous.

The danger comes from the founders who push these activities so far that they will overlook almost anything in order to keep their pockets full. When the people in power are no longer looking out for the safety and well being of the members of the community, more evil than is possibly imaginable is unleashed on its members. Corrupt justice systems and turned heads only further this spiral into a community that is out of control and without rules. Brecht makes a very clear point that when money is involved, most people will do just about anything to get more of it, buy more with it, and keep others from getting too much of it.