Chapter 13
Shadow men........ late 1983
“It is said that the Greek Gods would redirect the lives of mortals on a whim, regardless of the consequences. In most cases, to achieve some obscure goal. Men, and their nations, were no different than pawns on a chessboard.” –Unknown
“The papers, magazines, and TV analyses all say that we’re in a full economic recovery; and, even entering a new boom time. Good job, Brown!”
“We only write what’s happening. After all, business is good, oui? Ladies and gentlemen?”
“Quite,” replied Yellow. “That's what's worrying me.....”
“Not to worry, and be so fussy, Yellow. Or should I call you Hera? I understand our good friend Brown has new names for us all, eh Mercury?” placated
“Well, the color monikers are cheesy,” Brown said without further elaboration.
“Names, who cares about silly names? We agree wholeheartedly with
“Yes, indeed it is,” continued Cronus. “And today I do feel like the God-like names our resourceful young friend Brown, uggggh....Mercury, has given us. I’ve never had so many deposits in all of my days.......and the interest rates are going up steadily. Its simply heaven on earth to me!”
“Plueese,
“Well, that's because you maintain a near stranglehold on us with oversight laws and groups! Lighten up, dear Hera. Give them some rope to grow. After all, we are absorbing world markets now; and that’s naturally going to require significant increases in the amount of money in circulation. It’s the oil of commerce, as it were; and it lubricates the increased trading activity.”
“That’s not what I worry about. I’m hardly stupid! It’s the non-currency instruments that worry me. It’s the near money that they are creating in options, futures, and these damned derivatives! And then there are these huge off-the-books executive pay incentives! Doesn’t anybody remember a time when the market did this before?”
“Yes,” responded
“Yes, things are tighter. But there’s something wrong, and I just can’t get my finger on it. Maybe its just a bad feeling I have.”
“Oh lighten up, and enjoy your profits. Buy another island or something. Maybe you should just retire, and spare us your whining,” interjected Black sarcastically.
“I don’t know why Mercury named us, but Hades fits you well enough for me!” Hera said to Black, in angry retort for being minimized.
She knew that her opinions sounded unfounded, yet they nagged her whenever she gave the markets any thought.
“I’m losing control,” she thought to herself, “and he’s not only liking it, but encouraging it! Will nothing ever stop his blind ambitions?”
“Children, children. It is Zeus’s time to speak,” interrupted Blue sardonically.
“I rather like these names, my boy, it gives them cause to pause when I speak,” he commented after the sudden silence.
“Seriously, we can’t meet long today for various reasons. Lets get to the meat of the issues, and go along our ways, o.k.?”
Grudging assent met his request, but Brown could hardly stifle his laughter. He knew that Blue let his new names leak out, and it was just too funny.
“Cranky old bastards,” he thought to himself. “At least this spices up a dreary meeting.”
Tan was the first to agree with Blue, making a public pronouncement of his ‘genuine’ support of team efforts.
“Yes, my lord Zeus is correct....again. As much as we hate to admit it, he has a point. We all are very busy, and I don’t think any one of us is doing poorly. So, there isn’t anything but blue skies ahead for all of us. Lets not fight amongst ourselves. I have an issue that needs addressing, however.”
“Yes, Tan is right,” agreed Black.
He would never openly agree with Blue, but he did support Tan, and wondered where he was going with the conversation.
“They call you Apollo, I daresay. Much more complimentary that Hades. Although, I think my new name has its own charm as well. Quite witty, my clever young Mercury! Your name suits you very well, and your humor amuses me. Are you sure you don’t enjoy a bit of sadistic pleasure? You might find that.....”
“Black! Please, let Tan speak,” cut in Blue.
Tan noting the possibility of unproductive friction, quickly jumped into the breach and spoke.
“We’re having continuing troubles in
“Oh, they have a price, you just haven’t found it yet. Use their religions against them,” suggested Black.
“I told you that you gave them too much independence. Too much money in unpredictable hands!” commented
“The Shah of Iran kept them in line for us, but this damned ‘Islamic Republic’ of Khomeini’s .....”
“I thought that the Shiites had been localized in
“They’ve been held back, and the Sunnites provide a perfect counter balance. But this Hussein fellow is unpredictable. He seems to follow along with what he‘s supposed to do, yet he‘s unpredictable in his actions. He‘s started using poison gas against Iranian troops; and most importantly, he’s bombing Iranian Oil installations!”
“We can’t allow that! Conflict must be maintained in the region, to keep them from uniting. It’ll keep draining off their wealth so that they don’t gain too much influence. But, it can’t be at the expense of oil supplies!”
“What would you have us do, make them a colony?”
“That worked in past times,” countered
“Wake up,
“You laugh, but you don’t see the deposits that they put into my banking systems. Its truly outrageous, and that doesn’t count the storehouses of riches they keep at home, out of distrust for the banks.”
“Do you blame them? They understand the leverage that could be brought to bear upon them. The Persians and Arabs have done very well in utilizing the best universities in the world for training many of their people. Also they function in relatively small, tight-knit, groups. We can’t use media, like we can in other places. Their faith in their religion makes them too strong. As a result, we can’t control the populace effectively,” interjected Mercury.
“I think Cronus is saying that he’s concerned that they could become too autonomous. While Apollo is trying to warn us that we’ve become a trifle over-dependant upon Gulf oil as a source of energy,” summarized Blue.
Gray, also known as Hephaistos, spoke for the first time: “I agree with Blue. My industrial output is high, but not as high as it should be given the tremendous growth underway. Still, oil consumption is growing exponentially. I’m sorry to have missed a few meetings, but things are very active due to major industrial shifts. Like Yellow, I’m concerned that tried-and-true procedures and practices are being thrown out in favor of unbridled growth. There are a lot of risks being ignored here. I like building new factories where business isn’t restricted, and where environmental crap isn’t an issue, but I worry about the stability of the countries where I’m building them.”
“We own them lock, stock, and rainforest,” commented
“The debt on my books alone, means that I can shut most of the countries down if I wanted to. There isn’t a local political force big enough, or strong enough, to stand up to world loans, and the corresponding currency pressures.”
“Blah, blah, blah” commented Black. “Your God-like names have gone to your heads! None of that matters if our oil supply is jeopardized. Get back on topic. We need to keep the oil flowing, and the local influence maintained at a level that can be controlled effectively. I vote that we commit resources, including quietly supported military intervention, to Apollo's’ efforts.”
“I agree,” said Red. “Instability must be maintained if we hope to retain control subtly.”
“Well, if there’s a problem, we can use my huge oversupply of corn to create methanol,” suggested Green.
“Isn’t it better to use that, along with other aid packages, for underdeveloped countries?” asked Hera. “We need to continue to present a positive image to the public, so no one looks our way.”
“No one ’looks our way’ since we divested ourselves of the silly titles of Royalty, and shifted to corporate cloaks. They’re so wrapped up in themselves, they can’t even conceive of our existence. We are invisible to all but a few; and they don‘t really understand, or live long if do and are indiscrete.”
“What do you know of ’Royalty,’ Black? Your line was never Royal. ‘Royal opportunist,’ is a more accurate title for you. There have always been pretenders to the logical order of thoughtfully developed bloodlines. You are no different, a simple criminal,” quipped IO.
“What? Are you upset that you didn’t win ‘Best in Show’ at the international dog competition! Half of you may have some remnant of an egotistical inbred bloodline, but its the mixed mongrel in us that assures the strongest leadership! Criminal? By whose standard?”
“She’s right, the old order is falling apart. We need structure, however hidden,” commented Hera.
“Please, please. Order, please!” Zeus commanded.
“I must commend you all on your cleverness,” complimented Red in the vacuum of the second abrupt silence, garnering everyone’s attention.
“This freedom of media propaganda is most subtle. Like magician, you keep the audience watching one hand, while other does the trick. Very,very clever.”
“Red is right, methanol isn’t too good of an idea,” Black deftly returned to the topic, and effectively regained control of the meeting. “If anything, it’ll give ammunition to the conservation kooks, and I’m having enough trouble keeping the scientific community off that track. We have to keep the emphasis on oil, until that’s depleted. Then, we can introduce energy alternatives and efficiency. Otherwise profits will suffer considerably. Its much easier, and better, to encourage continued conflict between
“Oh, no. We too busy ourselves. So many, many, people. I can assure you of very good profits on exports though. We have very, very cheap labor, and no bothersome environmental issues. Also,
“I think I can keep your factories very busy. We’ll talk later, ok? One of our oil companies recently purchased a large retail concern, and our MBAs are determining how to make it more efficient. Retail is a new growth area for us, and works for us in three ways. First, it is only limited by people’s desires, which we stimulate through marketing. Second, we hook the customers in the financing of their purchases; and with interest rates as high as they are, that’s very lucrative. Thirdly, it’s a more ‘legitimate’ form of business in which to invest our insurance funds. Most monies have been going into commercial real estate developments, into office parks and large towers. But we’ve found that we can develop, then flip, the development by funding the project through mutual fund bond issues.
“I am not so sure I understand. We must talk more. I tink r central administartion can do same with monies from our banks,” replied Red.
“I understand,” said Hera, as she caught the evil glint in Black’s eyes while he spoke.
“Jesus almighty, he can twist anything into something devious,” she thought. “I’d better cover this with Blue soon,” she reminded herself silently.
Gray observed the interchange with cold and pragmatic judgment. He was the only one to correctly perceive the threat that Red posed.
“But which of them cares if I lose power and wealth to Red? They only care about their profits growing, and their control expanding,” he thought to himself. “In fact, Black looks absolutely gleeful in his anticipation of doing that very thing. I’d better watch my back,” he warned himself, but then concluded distantly. “What the fuck, I’m tired of this crap anyway. Who cares about anything in the end? Let the little bastards eat my lunch, if they can; and let them all choke on the consequences. I’m not going to waste my energy trying to keep them from shooting themselves. Red can be controlled eventually. If not by them, by me. That’s if I even care by then.”
So, he sat silently. Watching the actors in their play, and listening.
"O.k.,” interjected Blue with his booming, yet not overly pretentious voice.
“To sum up our meeting today, I’d say that we agree to support Tan in his flow of oil.....through whatever methods necessary. And, that we should let the market run full throttle with our new little army of corporate executives in charge of consolidating global expansion gains, and implementing new initiatives. Additionally, to keep the carrots in front of our executives and their followers, we need to fully stimulate consumption to drive this economic engine. Instruct your corporations to utilize specialized marketing firms to create their markets for consumer goods. Also, Red has an interest in supplying profitable consumer goods, so we need to loosen all import restrictions to open up the flow. In general, I’d say we are doing very well, oui?”
He got unanimous consent from the participants, yet the level of enthusiasm varied considerably, depending upon the person. Most were either overjoyed, or guardedly assenting. He noted worried looks on the faces of Hera, Green, and Gray. He read that as sour grapes for losing some sense of control. Later, he would regret his inattentiveness to this detail. But for today, all were happy with booming profits and wild expansion.
“Even Black seems happy,” he thought. “Maybe some positive growth will keep him from his characteristic destructive behaviors?” he hoped.
Then, he quickly corrected himself.
“And, maybe pigs will fly too! You can try to wash off the blood on your hands, but you can’t easily change the character that put it there in the first place. Evil deeds always end up in evil results, eventually. Its the paradox of evil power seekers. They are forever destined to lose that which they frantically strive for - ultimate power and control. They may get it and keep it for a while; but like a powerful cancer, its only a matter of time before it consumes its host, feeding upon itself until death finally comes. Why can‘t they see that?” he wondered. “Blind is the answer. Totally blind!”
Hades was ecstatic, and couldn’t hide his delight - even if he wanted to.
“Fools. Stupid fools!” he thought, as glee emanated from his countenance.
“I’ll bury them all, before they even know what hit them. And for Zeus? That’ll be fun to grind him into the ground! We’ll see where his superior attitude is then. Let him think he’s safe, and doing well. Then, he won’t even be expecting the knife. I’ll control all before long, and there won’t be any place he can hide.”
***************
©Tibet, Lamplight Unto a Darkened World…the American Delusion, a Parody of life ( L'illusion Américaine, une Parodie de Vie); is copyright protected, by author, Patrick Mahoney. Online Internet Reproduction/Propagation/Quotation Encouraged, with this citation. Any Printed reproduction, other than for personal reading, requires written permission by author, patrickm at http://patrickm.gather.com/ or patrick1000000000@yahoo.com
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