“Keep it
simple.”
Rube
Goldberg* #quote
Today I was working on a character
costume, for now working on a paper model to base the final version
on. Anyway onto the flash fiction!
Edwin And His Wealth
Edwin made a
few smart investments and did a few financial schemes with
questionable legality in the year 2014 and became absurdly rich by
2030. He became the richest man in the world, and his divorced wife
the richest woman.
After his
throne of money was established he kept spending and spending. For
the years his spending kept under the amount of money he got off his
assets. He looked at that gold statue of himself in his lawn and felt
proud of himself. He would contribute a small fraction of his wealth
to charity, still a large chunk of money, and call himself a saint in
his mind. That fraction was less than 1% ran in the billions and he
dismissed notions of contributing more.
One day he had
party at that mansion with the golden statue of himself. He invited
many business people. People he figured would be interested in his
money. Those always partied the best with him. They gave him the best
compliments. And they asked him for favors and wanted him to make
connections.
But Edwin
quickly noticed when one person in the party didn't ask for favors or
try to make connections. He noticed when someone in the group didn't
suck up to him after a full hour of the party. Johnathon Rodgen, a
technology pioneer, had said hello but mostly just stared out the
window with a glass of water.
“Hello John,
you know this is a sort of business party how about we talk
business?” Edwin went straight to the point.
Johnathon just
shrugged. “Edwin, I just can't I can do business with you.”
Edwin never got
no for an answer. The richest man in the world never got no for an
answer. Edwin told other people no. Everyone asked for his backing.
“Why is
that?” Edwin resisted yelling.
“I see that
golden statue you made of yourself in your lawn and I realize what
kind of man you are. It confirms all those stories of how you made it
too. The questionable legality of it. I don't think my money and
morals would be safe with a man like you.”
Edwin stomped
the ground like a child in a tantrum. “I can spend my money any way
I want to! What's wrong with buying something expensive?”
“Another man
I deal with buys expensive things. Old cars. But does he buy them for
the sake of buying them and puts them in his front lawn for everyone
to see how rich he is? No. He gets them because he likes them.
You're a man who's dangerous with money, and could go crazy with an
ego complex. There are those who buy jewelry because they find it
beautiful and those who buy it just to show how rich they are. I
cannot trust my money to someone who has no respect for what wealth
means. In ten years I can see you in rags.”
“Get out of
my house.” Edwin's face turned red.
Johnathon left
the house without objection. And unfortunately for Edwin his
prediction came true. Eventually Edwin began spending beyond his
assets and did not save like he used to and his wealth slowly began
to become a house of cards as he spent himself into oblivion and soon
became poorer than poor. His only skill was a few lucky and
questionably legal investments so at his old age he worked bad jobs
still with his ego hampering his work further as he even spent what
little money he had trying to appear rich. His stomach rumbled and he
had no power on many days just because he wanted to have a fancy gold
ring.
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