During the Great Depression in the Big Apple, one of the games we played was choosing our role model among the comic strip heroes we all read. Dick Tracy, Superman and Batman got most voted. They scoffed when I picked Daddy Warbucks, the billionaire who adopted Little Orphan Annie. (“Yeah, how many bad men did he catch?”)
They had me there. My protestation that he was as rich as Rockefeller carried no weight. (“If he has all that much money, why doesn’t he give you some?”) I imagined his house full of chests of gold. What I was told along the way was that to become a billionaire, I had to invent a bigger and better mousetrap.
Which meant think of something people need and want, then make it or improve it. Alas I couldn’t, while others did. Rather, like my father, I became a working stiff. I recall the first time I saw a television set, a ballpoint pen, a computer, a jet plane, etc. I hadn’t thought of any of it before. Their inventors became billionaires.
Would it have inspired me had I read The Self-Made Billionaire Effect by John Sviokla and Mitch Cohen earlier? I’ve never been good at how-to books, which this is. These economy boffins inform the readers that there are 800-and-counting living the world over. Why not us?
They interviewed scores to learn the secrets of their success. We’re told little we don’t already know. Look around for what is missing in our lives, then come up with it. A health drink. Something to make hair more lustrous. How to get things done quicker, more accurately, easier. More reliable and more profitable investments.
Yes-men are detrimental to organisations. Encourage different, even opposing ideas. Innovation is sought after. But change for the sake of change isn’t progress. When you have an idea, don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t work the first time or second or fifth — keep at it.
The book gives thumbnail sketches of those from everyday life with the ambition to accomplish what they set out to do, regardless of obstacles. To be sure, some ideas aren’t worth the effort, but how will you know if you don’t attempt to see it through?
Children Of The Master by Andrew Marr Estate 391pp Available at Asia Books and leading bookshops 395 baht
A gay Premier
Feelings about gay people in general, lesbians in particular, differ markedly. In some parts of the world, they may marry and adopt children. In other parts, they are thrown off roofs or buried alive. In novels and movies, they are often made fun of. But, there are exceptions.
When there are, publishers and directors have a hard time making them look sympathetic. In fact, throughout history, more than a few famous people were gay — at least, bisexual.
Would the populace elect a gay person as head of state? A tough question, for none of us wishes to be labelled prejudiced. In Children Of The Master, a British journalist has his readers facing it.
It’s political fiction set in the contemporary UK. Actual and imaginary figures cross paths with one another. Literary creation Caroline Phillips is the protagonist. Andrew Marr spends hundreds of pages describing her. The daughter of ordinary shopkeepers, she’s adorable.
And so much more: intelligent, charismatic, etc. And also a lesbian.
Men who come onto her walk away broken-hearted. Her lover is Angela, the mother of two boys and a vicar of the Church of England. Daniel, a married Scottish MP, is infatuated with her. The Master of the title is a wealthy man whose passion is power. He considers himself the man behind the scenes.
What he wants is a prime minister he can manipulate.
Getting Caroline into parliament is child’s play. As is her appointment as home secretary. But which of the two for prime minister? When Angela is arrested for drunk driving, Caroline makes an impassioned speech, breaking up with her. We are asked to believe that it wins her the election.
The author likens Westminster to a snake-pit and tabloid reporters as vultures feasting on carrion. Chapters are devoted to analysing politicians. Lesbians can change from loving to hateful.
Caroline Phillips isn’t based on Margaret Thatcher or Theresa May, but there are traces of Hillary Clinton.
