“Good morning, and welcome to the shareholder meeting for Unlimited Partners! We have a lot of new faces in here today, and I’m sure you’re eager to ask your questions, so let’s get this started!”

Eric Thompson smiled as his eyes took in the panorama of the assembled crowd. Interest had overwhelmed the originally chosen conference room, so the meeting had to be moved to the building’s auditorium. He recognized the original investors; they looked happy and confident. But most people in there looked nervous, or unsettled. One older gentleman in particular, seated in the front row, stood out; his elegant suit clashed with his wild, bushy mustache. He sat, arms crossed aggressively, staring hotly. Eric flashed him a winning smile; there was no change in the old man’s expression.

Eric shrugged to himself, picked up the remote control, and turned sideways so he could view the projection screen. It showed his firm’s name and logo, superimposed over an image of the sun bursting through the clouds. His eyes moved past the screen, to the windows that formed the walls of the auditorium, showing the city from several stories up. Multiple abandoned buildings, crumbling from neglect, sullied the ground. The windows of the nearby skyscrapers hadn’t been washed in months; the clean streaks made by recent rain clashed with thick dust. Fires still burned off in the distance, their smoke curling into the sky, dissipating as it reached higher.

He clicked the remote, and the screen now showed a beautifully rendered image of a gleaming, clean, orderly city. A jaunty font proclaimed its name. Eric exulted. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the city of Millenniaburg! So to answer your obvious questions, yes, the prior city government has ceded its authority to us, and yes, our company now owns the city.”

“How is that even possible?” A middle-aged lady, wearing a faded powersuit, had stood up.

“In one sense, it’s easily possible,” Eric explained. “The city’s tax base has been declining for years. The riots were the breaking point; after being looted repeatedly, most of the city’s businesses simply cut their losses, packed up what was left, and moved away. You can’t really blame them. And given the rising civil unrest, defunding the police was arguably not the wisest move. That left the city with no way to restore order, crippling debts it could never hope to pay, and a rather bleak outlook. But that’s where our firm comes in!”

“And they couldn’t get a bailout from the state?” A young man with a neck tattoo, garbed in the height of hipster fashion, gaped incredulously.

“Well, the former city government isn’t here to explain itself, and it’s not really my place to speak for them, but if I may express my opinion…the state isn’t doing all that well either. Its industrial base decamped for overseas locations a long time ago, and nothing really took its place. Its finances are in even worse shape than the city’s!”

“Then the federal government!” The young hipster was having none of this. “How is what happened here even legal?”

“They have their own problems,” Eric related sadly. “Their control of their own finances has been getting hollowed out for years. The dollar used to be the world’s reserve currency; everything in the world could be bought or sold in terms of dollars. Now, our strategic adversaries have successfully supplanted their own currencies for much of what they buy and sell, and to a large degree, don’t participate in the ‘dollar system’ anymore. With less demand for dollars, there’s less demand for anything denominated in dollars, including U.S. Treasury bills.”

Individual sounds of breathing could be heard over the crowd’s stunned silence. Eric continued. “And instead of rolling over their securities, as they did in the past, our nation’s adversaries don’t believe our nation can ever pay off its debts, and are demanding territorial concessions in exchange for what they’re owed. Faced with that, the federal government decided it preferred to hand that over to U.S. citizens and domestic companies, as a less terrible second choice.” He gripped the podium tightly. “And that’s where our firm comes in! We already own an abundance of small towns whose reach exceeded their grasp, but Millenniaburg is our largest acquisition to date!”

The young hipster gaped wordlessly, then sat down. A young lady in baggy clothing, with a swarm of facial piercings, rose from her seat. “How come I’ve never heard of any of this?”

Eric shrugged. “It’s been all over the financial news for countless months. The failures of the last three T-bill auctions were top headlines in my news feed. I don’t listen much to the mainstream press; I don’t consider what they report to be relevant enough to inform an investment strategy. Still, it seems like they should be covering this. Can you tell me what they’re reporting?”

The young lady swiped her phone furiously. “The big headlines right now are…the upcoming marriage of two influencers, and…an actress has lost her job because of something she wrote twenty years ago, in a classmate’s yearbook.”

Eric smirked. “Nero fiddles while Rome burns, I guess.”

“Is that from an old book?” The young lady sat down again.

Eric’s eyes darkened. “Yeah. Something like that. Anyway…in addition to having complete authority over everything within the city limits, we also own the former city government’s debts and obligations, and we intend to turn around this bleak state of affairs. And as with any private-equity turnaround, we have to shed what doesn’t work, and expand what does work! The direness of the situation, and the ongoing collapse of traditional authority, gives us a wide latitude to respond!”

A troubled murmur stirred from the audience. Eric ploughed ahead. “So, in addition to all the interested parties that are here of their own choosing, we’ve invited all the holders of the former city’s prodigious debts, to explain our plan going forward. The—”

The bushy-mustached old man in the front row stood up and interrupted. “And I’m one of the biggest!” Eric stopped and looked at him impassively. “I run the firm that built your power plants, repaved your roads, and retrofitted your aging bridges! In the last few years, the city resorted to paying us with bonds! And I will be damned if I’m going to let you default on those!”

Eric raised his palms in a pleading motion. “Sir, please…we have no intention of hanging you out to dry. On the contrary; we could really use your help going forward! Your firm has the skill and experience we need to turn this city around. Didn’t you read the prospectus we sent you?” Eric covered the microphone and barked a few short orders to his colleagues nearby. They began furiously typing on their laptop computers.

The old man huffed. “Yes, but I didn’t understand most of it! It seemed like it was designed to lull me to sleep! I remember when men went into business to do things, to build, to create works that would withstand the test of time, and belong to the ages! I can’t stand your style of so-called businessman…you’re only good at shuffling paper and spouting words!”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Eric chuckled. “Very pithy, sir. But whether or not you realize it, we’re on the same side. Our firm also wants to see a city built on solid fundamentals, on old-time values. They’re what made our country strong, and they’ll do it again! In fact…” Eric watched two of his colleagues approach the old man, showing him figures on their computer screens. “…our firm is willing, right now, to invest a significant sum in yours. Consider it seed money for the many tasks ahead.”

The old man looked at the screen, and snorted. “Well…it’s a start. That’ll keep us going for a few months, at least. But this is my firm! I’m not going to let you surreptitiously take it over!”

Eric laughed. “I think all the kids in the room are looking up the definition of that word.” Scattered chuckles flitted across the audience. “But if you’ll let me continue, you’ll find out how we’re planning the opposite of that. Our goal is for you, and all the other creditors of the defunct city, to own part of us!”

A small swarm of curious murmurs emerged. Eric smiled. “As I’m sure you’re all aware, the city’s debts became too large to ever be paid back. Even the wisest turnaround specialists in the world wouldn’t be able to solve that problem! At the same time, we need people committed to seeing this city get revitalized, people interested in building a future worth having. And that’s why we’re proposing…swapping your debt for equity in Unlimited Partners.”

The sound from the crowd swelled with disquieted murmurs; Eric pushed ahead. “Keep in mind, in a traditional bankruptcy, the debt holders would get little or nothing. Or maybe you’d get possession of distressed assets, too damaged to be resold, with no one willing to buy them. Instead, you get to be a part of the solution…one with voting rights! Your work and dedication will be instrumental in ensuring this city becomes a place of value again!”

There was a pregnant pause. Then a sharp-eyed gentleman in a fine suit stood up. “Well, I’d love to believe in this plan, but…what are you going to do with all the citizens that can’t, or won’t, be a part of this?”

Eric sighed happily. “Remember, Millenniaburg is no longer a traditional city…that era is past. It’s a corporation. It may be helpful to think of it as the country’s largest gated community. We can have rules and regulations that go far above and beyond what was present, or even allowed, under the old system. Anyone that wishes to remain living here will be considered an employee of the firm, or for the children and retired, a ward. And as employees and wards, they will have to agree to a code of conduct, one that doesn’t allow for laziness or unethical behavior. Anyone that violates these rules will find their right to remain terminated, and will have to find somewhere else to live. It’s not fair to the rest of us, the ones trying to build a better future, to have to tolerate criminals and parasites.”

“Well, that’s convenient!” the young lady with the face piercings interrupted. “What about the elderly and handicapped? Are you just going to push them out?”

Eric cleared his throat. “We have analyzed the situation carefully, and our statistics show that less than five percent of this city’s inhabitants are truly needy. The elderly and the handicapped, as you put it. They are welcome to remain; the cost of caring for them is well within our budget. And productive work can be found for many of them. I’m talking about the people that choose to be needy…people that are perfectly capable of contributing to the world around them, but elect not to. They’re the only ones that have anything to worry about.”

The young lady’s face fell. “I see.” She sat down again.

Eric hunched over the podium. “And that brings me to addressing the rioting and civil unrest of recent months. These people pretended to serve the cause of equality and justice, but their actions demonstrated they were only in it for themselves. Their only real activity was to loot, pillage, and terrorize. They treated civilization as if it was something to plunder. People like that don’t deserve the benefits of civilized society. In the end, they caused the destruction of the old order, and allowed for a firm like Unlimited Partners to arise. I and my colleagues are here because no one could find a way to solve the problems they caused. In short, they were more stupid than the city leadership was smart.” Eric pounded his fist on the podium. “Stupidity and incompetence are not a lifestyle choice!” The crowd erupted with laughter, and a few scattered cheers.

Eric beamed as he swept his arm across the assembled audience. “Now, for you…the ones that own the enormous amounts of debt owed by the former city…the productive citizens that want a chance to demonstrate your worth…and anyone that wants to help build a world that’ll let their children soar to the limits of their skills, talents, and motivation…I ask you…are you with us?”

The crowd overflowed with excited chattering. A din of applause slowly started, then quickly expanded to a thundering roar. Eric extended his arms and held his hands high. Whistles and cheers erupted from a mass of attendees. Only a few sat quietly, their heads hung low.

Finally, the excitement died down. Eric referred to the bushy-mustached old man, his expression now beatific. “And what do you think, sir? You are probably owed more than the rest of these people put together. What’s your opinion?”

The old man grinned excitedly, his flushed skin taking several years off his appearance. “I must say, I’m deeply impressed with what I’ve heard here today. I must commend you young guys for your brilliance! I apologize for what I said earlier; you’re not a paper shuffler, you’re a doer! I’m proud to be a part of what you’re creating, and I’ll happily remain with your firm.” This brought a flood of affirmative shouts and more applause.

Eric ended with a flourish. “You’ll all find more information about our path forward, and your part in it, on our website. I wish you all much success in the better world to come!” After giving him a standing ovation, the crowd began to break up and leave.

As Eric conferred with his colleagues, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to find the young lady with the facial piercings. “Hello! I’m Amber.”

Eric smiled politely and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Amber cocked her head. “Actually, that’s just it. Have we met before? You look so familiar.” His colleagues arched their eyebrows and excused themselves.

Eric chortled politely. “With all due respect, ma’am, I don’t think our social circles intersect.”

Amber giggled. “No, you’re probably right. It’s just that your face looks…so familiar.”

Eric shrugged. “I guess I just have one of those faces.”

Amber glanced pensively. “You look a lot like the guy that once granted a large amount of money to my social-protest group; our goal was to defund the police. Except that guy had long hair and sideburns.”

“Really. How very interesting,” Eric remarked. “I’m sorry, but you must excuse me. I have plenty to do still; my day is far from over.”

Amber snickered and blushed. “Of course. Don’t let me stop you. I wish you all the success in the world.” She turned to leave.

“Thank you.” Eric walked away, following his colleagues through a door. He turned to look at Amber, shooting her an apprehensive glare. Then he closed the door behind him.