By Joshua Vise – September 24, 2025

Published in Metrics: The Money Trap by CultureCult Press. Lulu: Paperback or EPUB

William Lynch reclined in his overstuffed chair and gazed out of the window onto East 57th street. More than simply beautiful, he found the view from his 45th story office incredibly restorative. The constant motion of cars below distracted him just enough to put distance between himself and whatever details he focused on too closely, and after a moment or two taking in the scenery, he could return to his work with fresh eyes.

His office intercom buzzed.

“Your 1 o’clock is here to see you, Mr. Lynch.”

“Send him in, Patty,” Mr. Lynch said as he pressed a button. With a soft mechanical click, the door to his office unlocked, and William turned and stood to greet his guest.

“Mr. Lynch,” said the well-dressed man that entered. “Eric Finley. So wonderful to finally meet you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine,” said Mr. Lynch cordially as they shook hands. “Please, have a seat.”

“Congratulations in advance on your IPO, Mr. Lynch,” Eric said. “I’m sure this is a very exciting time for you.”

“William’s fine,” he answered. “And yes, we’re extremely busy making sure everything is in place, so I appreciate you accommodating my strained schedule. You’ve come very highly recommended.”

 “I’m happy to hear that,” Eric said. “And this is a critical juncture for you. The sooner we can implement a few of our standard procedures, the more effective they can be. After all, you’re not some lottery winner.”

“Coffee?” offered William.

“Yes, please. Black. No sugar.”

William pressed the intercom button. “Patty?”

“Yes, Mr. Lynch?”

“Two coffees, please. Black.”

“Right away, Mr. Lynch.”

Eric leaned forward in his chair and rested his elbows on the desk as William took his usual seat.

“I’m going to ask a few questions that may seem personal, but I assure you they are critical to our process.”

“I’m an open book.”

“What is your current net worth?”

William thought for a moment.

“Around a hundred million,” William offered, “but that fluctuates a lot.”

“How liquid is it? Is it all in equity? Leveraged?” asked Eric.

“Various sources. I’m very cash poor,” William said with a smug smile.

“Alright,” acknowledged Eric. “What do you anticipate your worth to be after the IPO?”

“Our most recent pre-IPO valuation is 7.3 billion. I own a 30 percent stake.”

“That would put you in the range of…” Eric paused, his eyes drifting as he did the arithmetic in his head, “…somewhere around two point two billion dollars.”

“That’s what I anticipate,” answered William, “so you can see why your services would be necessary to me.”

Eric nodded.

“Indeed.”

The intercom buzzed. William hit the switch on his desk, and the door opened. A young woman entered, carrying a service tray for two. She set the cups down in front of each of the men, who remained silent as she tended to her duties.

“Will there be anything else, Mr. Lynch?”

“No, Patty,” answered William. “Thank you.”

Patty exited the room, closing the door behind her. William and Eric resumed their conversation.

“I’m going to speak frankly, from a social standpoint,” began Eric. “I’ll use some harsh terms, but please understand that none of this is directed at you. It’s just the mindset of the average person.”

“It takes a lot to hurt my feelings,” said William as he sipped his coffee.

“Your level of wealth,” continued Eric. “When you cross into that territory…a billion dollars…that makes things a bit harder. Certain types of media scrutiny become impossible to avoid. Forbes Magazine will list you. People will be paying attention, even if you keep a low profile.”

“I always viewed Forbes as a badge of honor,” countered William, a note of pride in his voice. “They did a profile on the company a year and a half ago.”

“Yes, well a company profile and a piece about an individual are different. Attention will naturally move to you, and this is something that we strive to avoid unless we control it. You see, the most serious threats are extremely rare, even for a man of your stature, and are pretty easy to control. Actual threats to your person, for example, can be prosecuted. For those kinds of issues, you’d do well to hire a strong legal team, as well as reliable personal protection services.”

“Both of which I have,” added William. “So what differentiates the services you offer from those? Just asking, of course.”

“We facilitate your extraction from modern society,” Eric stated flatly.

“What does that entail?” asked William.

“You’re about to enter an elite club, Mr. Lynch, far beyond what you’ve currently achieved,” Eric explained. “You have attained a level of wealth that puts certain limits on your life. There are places, places that you may know and love, that you will no longer be able to visit. The same is true with people. You will no longer simply ‘meet’ people. Everyone around you will be vetted to ensure your safety, as well as to look after your interests.”

“I assumed as much,” William pointed out. “Again, why can’t this be handled through lawyers and private security?”

“Because of your level of wealth,” Eric reiterated. “That threshold that I mentioned before, that billion-dollar line. In my experience, that is the line that, once crossed, generates its own level of attention. It warps the gravity of your social universe. People who would be indifferent to you now suddenly have an opinion, and we do our best to shape that opinion.”

“How do you shape their opinions? Why do their opinions even matter?”

“Oh, lots of reasons,” stressed Eric. “With your level of wealth, public policy becomes a personal issue. You want people voting in your best interests, and they won’t do that if they view people like you in a negative light.”

“So how do you accomplish that?” asked William, leaning forward in genuine interest.

“Well, for one, people have to believe that it is right and proper for you to have so much,” Eric disclosed. “Most people can’t understand just how much money a billion dollars actually is. They can’t fathom the purchasing power in real terms. It’s like telling them the distance to the nearest star. They might know that the nearest star is four light years away, but their brain perceives four light years as ‘really far’ instead of as a real measurement. Your wealth is the equivalent of a light year.”

William smirked at the comparison.

“But,” Eric continued, gesturing with a pointed finger for emphasis. “But most people won’t care that you have it, as long as they are convinced that you somehow deserve to have it. They have to believe that you are someone special who has done something that is extraordinary, and has been rewarded for it.”

“Haven’t I?” William quipped, unable to hide a note of haughty satisfaction in his voice.

“Oh, of course,” offered Eric, backtracking a bit. “You’ve navigated the world of business and finance very adeptly. But your wealth isn’t tied to work. It’s tied to ownership, and people hate that.”

Eric paused to sip his coffee, gauging William’s reaction to that less-than-pleasant statement.

“What are you saying?” asked William.

“What I’m saying,” offered Eric seriously, “is that if people believe you are a hardworking genius, they will be less likely to view your success with resentment. That is exactly the outcome we want. This means that any future media attention should highlight your rigorous work schedule and your complete dedication to your enterprise. Every aspect of your wealth that can be seen should be framed as existing only to serve your business.”

“For example?” asked William.

“For example….” Eric thought for a moment. “Do you have a private jet?”

“Yes.”

“Yours? Or the company’s?”

“It’s registered to the company,” said William, “but I have exclusive use of it.”

“That’s good,” Eric reassured. “For one, it isn’t your jet. It legitimizes it as a need…in service to the company, as I said.”

“I’m sorry, I think I’m losing the plot,” William interjected.

“Yes?”

“It just seems that everything you’re talking about is something that I’m already doing.”

“That’s right,” affirmed Eric.

“So exactly what will I be paying you for?” groused William.

“That’s an excellent question,” Eric said. “Every businessman I work with eventually asks that, some much less pleasantly than you. Firstly, it is important to note that you are not paying me directly, but my company.”

“The others always spoke of you. Nobody ever mentioned a company.”

“That’s important to us. We don’t operate under a single name, like ‘Walmart’ or ‘General Mills’. We use a variety of names, in part to hide our size, and also to ensure that if an adverse event were to occur, we could isolate it from the other areas of our business.”

He sipped his coffee and continued.

“In some ways, we can be best compared to lobbyists, though we deal very directly in politics, economics, and other areas that concern our clientele. What this allows us to do is not just create policies that benefit our clients, but implement them, ensure their acceptance, deflect blame and negative narratives, and generally create conditions favorable for the maintenance of such a massive amount of wealth.”

“But if you are already doing that,” probed William, “why is it necessary for me to pay into such a system? It sounds like I could do nothing and still benefit from your work.

Eric’s cup clinked against the saucer as he set it down.

“That’s true, but only to an extent,” Eric said. “Some of our techniques benefit everyone of extreme affluence, such as our work with the lottery, but…”

“The lottery?” interrupted William, notes of curiosity evident in his voice. “What do you do with the lottery?”

“Oh, it’s likely not what you think,” Eric said. “We don’t manipulate numbers or preselect winners or anything of that nature. Instead, we create the narrative within the general public that serves our purpose. In fact, it may be a perfect example of the complexity of our media engagement.”

It was Eric’s turn to smirk as he noticed William leaning forward, clearly interested.

“So, you can think of it as layers of insulation between your wealth and the average citizen. Firstly, the mere existence of the lottery propagates the idea that anyone could someday be that wealthy. The idea that they may one day have that level of wealth incentivizes him towards maintaining the status quo. After all, why would you rip down a system that you may benefit from someday?”

“And it doesn’t matter at all that the odds are impossible?” asked William.

“Not a bit. Just like with our ‘light year’ analogy before, people can’t naturally calculate odds that big. The difference between one-in-a-thousand and one-in-three-hundred-million feels exactly the same, even if the person consciously knows that the second is much rarer than the first.”

“But if you don’t rig the lottery, what do you do with it?”

“We inject layers of narrative around it. All of those stories of someone winning the lottery and their life going to shit? That creates the idea that wealth is actually a curse. Better off not dealing with all of that.”

“Doesn’t that run counter to the view that anyone could be rich one day?”

“Of course! This is where the idea of being smart or savvy comes into play. We’ve put out so much material on ‘What to do if you win?’ that most people feel like they can beat the curse. They already know the steps: hire a national lawyer, don’t tell anyone, claim the prize anonymously if your state permits it, form an LLC to claim the prize so you don’t have to disclose your personal information, and so on. It is completely circular. You could win, but it is better if you don’t, but if you do, here is how to be smart about it…”

“But if you were smart, you wouldn’t play it in the first place,” added William.

“Exactly,” Eric confirmed. “Their belief in luck allows them to permit a system in which those who engineer themselves into a position of wealth can continue to thrive.”

Eric leaned back in his chair, satisfied at his successful explanation.

“And that is just one example of how we shape the system that allows the affluent to thrive.”

William was clearly impressed.

“Still, there must be more to it than just ‘shaping narratives’.”

“Absolutely,” said Eric. “The way this economic model was originally designed could never conceive of outliers such as yourself. It’s not built to handle it. The flaw is that once you reach a certain level, it becomes impossible for that amount to stop increasing. You’ve heard of some of the big names agreeing to donate ninety-nine percent of their wealth after they die? That’s because it doesn’t matter. That one percent that their estate holds onto will immediately rocket them back to the top, never mind the fact that they have generated instant goodwill among the general populace without sacrificing a single bit of their current quality of life. That…”

Eric paused for effect.

“…is what we do. We simultaneously elevate you to a position where your affluence seems natural, all while removing you from the society that generates your fortune, without any adverse effects to your ability to continue to prosper. We call it the “So Much, You’re Nothing” position, and we have learned to play it to perfection.”

William smiled.

“Anyway, I am sure I’ve taken enough of your time,” said Eric as he stood. “Best of luck on your IPO. We’ll get in touch after things have settled down.”

William stood, rounded his desk, and offered his hand, his smile having mutated into a toothy grin.

“Patty will give you our new address and number on your way out. Call anytime.”

“You’re moving?” asked Eric.

“Yes and no. We’re relocating within the building. Leased out the top five floors.”

“Makes sense,” said Eric as he gestured to the window. “The only way to improve this view is to get higher.”

“Absolutely,” chuckled Willam.

As Eric left, William turned to the window, folded his arms behind his back, and gazed out onto the city below. Just under his feet, thousands of people went about their day.