But this idea keeps creeping into my head, and I plan to turn it into a series of novels called The Benefactor. The bottom line is some very wealthy person is feeding, housing and educating those who have less, and the novel explores how the world reacts to that.
So I'm using this blog as a sounding board, by doing a what if: What if some known Billionaire starts doing what my protagonist does. I'm not talking about giving to existing charities. Even the best run charities have overhead and the chance of corruption within. But what if this Benefactor, well known to the world, uses his/her vast fortune to do what other Billionaires refused to do: Feed people, house people and educate them, maybe even hiring them until they get the experience they need and give them the pay and health care that no other major employer will do.
In short, it's a version of my Project Five-Star using a Billionaire's money.
So first reaction would be....that's....nice...what's in it for him/her? Well, under the Project Five-Star model, the benefactor would own the rights to any art created by his/her employees, but I don't even want to go that far. The benefactor is just tired of his/her wealth and wants to give it away to those in need. Period. Not asking for any return.
And while the oligarchs are scratching their heads at this sudden reversal, they're feeling a bit scared too, because a precedence has been set. Maybe they try to talk to their comrade and try to convince him/her to change their minds. Or they lobby their friends in Congress to pass a law prohibiting such an act, though that would be very bold and in-your-face to say the poor shouldn't receive this benefit from one of their own.
Do they try to sabotage the program? Use mercenaries to break up the feedings, or stop the construction of cheap new homes?
But why would they want this to end in the first place? Isn't this ideal? People get what they want without other Billionaires having to pay for it. Well, that all sounds so good for the poor people, but what about the Oligarchs? If people are being fed and housed and educated and their health is being taken care of, what happens to the labor force? Will they still accept minimum wage jobs? Who would want to work at McDonald's, for instance when they have no bills to pay? Retail employment would suffer. Oligarchs would find themselves losing power, in my opinion. And this is why they would fight this tooth and nail.
The last option, one that has been taken way too often when people get in the way of those in power, like John F. Kennedy, like Robert, like others in many countries, have found themselves dead just for wanting to make a difference for the little guy. I honestly think this is what keeps those with money from being the benefactor of my dreams.
But in my story, this/these Benefactor(s) are anonymous. No one can find out any information about them, Oligarchs around the world start to panic. Could this lead to war? If so, who fights?
Well, I'm still going over all the above scenarios as well as a few that I'll keep to myself, but as always, thanks for reading!
