Egon and Shadow Talk About Death
“I was thinking about what you said about business,” Egon closed the door behind him and sat down into an armchair, “The way you described it did sound a lot like description of life itself. Some might be inclined to deduce that it’s all natural.”
“Indeed, it copies life itself. But unlike the original, it intends to be the sole arbiter of survival.”
“How is that different from old age, disease, or a deer refusing your hunting attempts? In its entirety, the original is a sole arbiter too.”
“Let me put it this way — who is the apex predator on Earth? Human or virus? And before you answer, ask yourself whether human or virus can change the rules of the game.”
Egon leaned back.
“You see,” Shadow stretched his legs, “with business it’s different. It severs a link in the food chain. It disqualifies the connection through which the most simple feeds on and keeps the most complex in check. It proclaims such action taboo, against the rules. So, within its context and according to its rules, it breeds true apex predators. And those can even change some of the rules that govern the game itself. Almost like magic.”
“So let’s restore that link,” Egon leaned forward, “make it perfectly legal to use every method imaginable. That should even out the playing field and prevent disproportionate shifts in power.”
“Setting aside practical implications of such a solution, and as you may know, people tried to improve or ignore the rules and even break the game. But in the end, no matter the violent revolutions, fervent uprisings, or well-intended regulations, business always returned. People always very quickly went back to basically eating each other in order to survive. Plundering the very ecosystem they essentially rely on in the process, if I may add.
The key is in the way the food chain link is broken. When you look at life as it arises from within the original system, it is based on exchange. Nothing escapes it. All actions create reactions. Contrary to this, the game of business evaluates collecting. Sure, the most successful always talk about allowing the collected assets flow, letting them enter the exchange network. But the motivation is merely in collecting even more assets at worst, or influencing the flow of assets in order to keep one’s arbitrary defined standard of collected assets at best. All in promise of a secured life buffered from death by a safety cushion of the very same collected resources. And in such scenario, fear of death and uncertainty as well as desire for security and power are mighty motivators. Nothing that would be foreign to humans even outside the game of business.
However, when you look at it from a sufficient distance, it will almost seem as if the only entity, if it can be called that way, that profits from business is business itself. It depends on specific human worldview in order to survive. And as such, business is simply a virus that pretends to be a natural layer of life. But you may also say that business is merely one facet of a cannibalistic mental parasite. A mind infection. Or a particularly painful way of thinking. Whichever you like.”
Shadow shrugged his shoulders and went silent. Egon inhaled, leaned back again, and let out a deep sigh. Then he went for another smoke.
