Who knows? Maybe there are richer people in the world, men or women with even more money. Who really knows, how much money people really have.
The heat. The sun beating down. The dust. The noise. The blood.
He was, one of the world's richest men, richer than Bill Gates and Warren Buffet put together. And yet, he was being thrown about like a rag doll, bloody and dirty. People grabbed at him, beat him, and tore at his clothes. Two hundred billion dollars is a lot of money. He had many years to prepare for this day. And yet the irony of the images. One of the world's richest men being thrown about by an angry horde, tossed in the dirt, bleading, threatened and harassed. Moments and inches away from instant death. He was pleading for his life. Maybe a few gold bars could make a difference at this point? Or maybe not? Armies of the best mercenaries Africa or the world has to offer? Legions of prostitutes and concubines? A Fedex delivery? When you absolutely have to have it overnight. Or instead when you absolutely have to have it at this moment. Of all the things that could have saved him at this moment. And yet, he didn't have it. Great oratory? A great speech to rival Marc Anthony?
When you are being dragged in the desert by an armed, angry mob, what can you do to save yourself? An Uzzi? A ghetto blaster? Bales of burning Marijuana? He could have hired armies of the best mercenaries Africa has to offer. And yet he didn't. Or he didn't hire enough of them. At least they weren't there in his moment of need. He could have bought warehouses full of state-of-the art weapons, shoulder launched missiles, bazookas, fully automatic assault rifles, smoke bombs. All the things he could have done differently. And yet, he didn't do them. Was he just not so intent on survival? Was he just too cheap? Too miserly, too parsimonious for his own good? Bad financial management even when you think you are doing everything right. Or was he just too lazy? Too old? He didn't seem to be prepared for this moment. The surprise and ignorance that leads to destruction. In the death of the world's richest man, are we seeing a glimpse of the failings of man and the human condition?
For 200 billion dollars, he could have built palaces of pleasure and cities of splendor. But would it save him now? He could have used the money on biotech research. Who knows, he might have found several cures. Could he have offered up vials filled with the cure for cancer and then would the mob have treated him differently? Could he have bought caviar and truffle feasts for everyone? Swimming pools and Rolls Royces? Louis Vuitton and iPads? All the things that could have saved him from this moment. What would it have taken? Was this just the result of years of bad decisions and ethical failures? He was rich and powerful. But the world had turned against him. A life lesson plastered across the TV screens and newspapers of the world.
I'm not arguing right or wrong. Good or bad. There are probably thousands of people who hate his guts and with more than enough justification for wanting to see him dead. It's just a strange image. A real life character. Almost like a movie, but it's not. More than real, a reality.
Copyright Erik Haugen 2011
