CONVERSATIONS WITH JELLY (7) – BUSINESS

Cedric and Jelly had decided that it was time for Jack to see more of the world. There was only one way to understand the beast, and that was to see it in action. Cedric would take Jack under his wing, and introduce him to the world of business. There was a perfect opportunity for Jack to see lying, cheating, and stealing performed with extraordinary levels of skill.
Jack was surprised to see Cedric on his next visit to Jelly. It had been decided that Jelly should introduce the topic simply because he had a gentle manner and was more diplomatic than Cedric. They anticipated that Jack would probably object.
“Jack we have a proposition to put you.” Jelly said with a smile.
“Okay.” Jack said with a certain level of anticipation.
“I’m very aware that you enjoy your work with Cedric. But if you really want to see what makes the beast tick, then it might be useful to see how business operates. As you know Cedric has many contacts in the world of business and he would like you to accompany him to some of his meetings. If you don’t want to do it, that’s fine. But you really will see levels of depravity that you would otherwise not see. What do you think?”
“I think you are right Jelly. It had occurred to me that I have seen very little of the world compared with yourself and Cedric. And I have to admit, I want to see what these bastards get up to.”
Neither Cedric or Jelly had expected that. Cedric could not contain his excitement.
“You are going to see things that you could not imagine Jack. I am going to take you on a guided tour of hell.”
“So when do we start?” Jack asked with glee.
“It will take a few weeks to arrange things.” Cedric said, “I’ll set the meetings up and I’ll introduce you as someone who works in audit. They will expect you simply do a whole pile of administrative work, and so you will not be of much interest to them. You’ll be sitting in on the meetings between the directors of a young business, a venture capital company, and at various times lawyers and possibly bankers. I will be offering to invest money in this business along with the venture capital company. You are going to enjoy this so much Jack.”
“As I understand it then, the venture capital company and you Cedric, will be investing money in this business. And the lawyers and bankers are really the sideshow.”
“That’s not entirely true Jack. The lawyers are as much part of the deceptions that will take place as the venture-capital firm. In fact none of these people operate within an ounce of integrity, except perhaps the owners of the business, who simply expect money to be injected with the aim of growing the business. That will be the last thing on the minds of the venture-capital firm.”
“ Just one thing Jack,” Jelly said as he was reaching for his pipe, “in all likelihood you’ll see some relatively naïve people robbed of many years work. You cannot intervene, even though I have no doubt that that is precisely what you will want to do. And that may be difficult.”
In all, it took less than 15 minutes for the whole thing to be arranged. Some of the days when Jack should’ve been working he will instead go out with Cedric to these various meetings. He would simply tell Helen that they were visiting tire suppliers and so he needed to wear his suit.
The first business meeting came around soon enough. They would travel down to London by train, giving Cedric plenty of time to explain the whole situation to Jack. The first class carriage was much to Jack’s liking, and they both had a hearty breakfast. Cedric finished his cup of tea and started to explain the dynamics that would take place in the meeting.
“The business that is looking for funding Jack, is called BellAnywhere. They’ve invented the doorbell that somehow connects to your mobile phone, and so no matter where you are you know when someone has rung your doorbell. It seems it’s very popular. The venture-capital firm is called VentureSky. They are one of the largest, and one of the most vicious, of the operators in the space. Screwing people over is what they do. They’ve done it many times, and so they know all the tricks of the trade. The reason they are investing in this business, or plan to invest, is because they already have a buyer lined up for it. The buyer is a large electronics firm that has taken a liking to this product. Of course, BellAnywhere has no knowledge of this and simply assumes that the investment will be used to grow the business. The problem for VentureSky is that they completely need to reshape this business to make it saleable. The main shareholder in BellAnywhere owns 70% of the shares. After the deal he will hold 40%. That is still quite a lot of shares, and VentureSky will not be able to push him around easily. So what they will do is insert some small print that says if the business does not perform at a certain level, then they will be able to assume total control of the business. They will also try and demoralize this shareholder and look for ways to sack him.”
Jack was astonished at this.
“How can you sack the owner of a business?”
“Oh it’s very easy when you know how Jack.” Replied Cedric, “Anyway, now you know what the game is. But actually I have a game of my own. I have a different buyer for this business, and just as the venture capitalists think they are near to closing, I will speak to the shareholders of BellAnywhere and just offer them each a cash amount they will not be able to refuse. In that way, nobody gets hurt. My buyer gets what it wants at a reasonable price, I get to make a profit on the transaction, and the owners of BellAnywhere walk away with a pile of cash. This is the beast in action Jack. And as I told you, I can do it as well as anyone.”
Jack was uneasy with this game, and especially the ease with which Cedric could play it. It seemed as though he had a foot in both worlds. Was it really possible to do that, and not be disloyal to both worlds? He felt he wouldn’t get a straight answer from Cedric, so he would raise it with Jelly when he saw him next.
They arrived in London at King’s Cross station, took a taxi, and arrived at a shabby looking office block in Farringdon. Once inside, however, Jack could only liken it to something he’d seen in the movies. There was lots of space, everything was new, and a very attractive receptionist showed them to the meeting room. Everyone was already there, and after the pleasantries had been done they sat down to talk business. Sure enough, the venture capital firm was talking about investing in the business so that it could grow. The owners of the business were excited by this, and Cedric confirmed that he was an interested party. It all panned out exactly as Cedric had said it would. Jack looked at the faces of these people, and with the exception of the business owners, they all pretty much looked like replicas of each other. The main negotiating point would be price, but they expected to reach an agreement very quickly.
After the meeting Cedric took Jack to one of his favorite restaurants for lunch. It really wasn’t much to Jack’s liking, being over elaborate and very busy. They made their way back, and Jack arrived home at pretty much his usual time.
As Jack reflected on the day, he decided that he really didn’t want to do any more business meetings. It had all left a bad taste in his mouth. He would say nothing to Cedric, but would discuss it with Jelly at their next meeting.
Unfortunately for Jack, Jelly had decided that they should meet at his estate near York. This was very inconvenient for Jack, and he could only assume that Jelly had some reason for doing this.
Jelly didn’t meet him at the door, but when Jack was shown into the lounge Jelly was busy smoking his pipe, and sat opposite him was Susan. Once again Susan did not acknowledge Jack as he walked into the room, but sat with her eyes staring past Jelly.
“ Hello Jack. I actually didn’t know that Susan was going to be here this evening. But since you had asked about her I thought there was no harm in her being here.”
“Hello Susan.” Jack said with feigned casualness.
Susan did not answer, but simply maintained her gaze past Jelly.
“ Oh, may I use your bathroom Jelly.” Asked Jack.
When he got back from the bathroom Susan had gone. Jack was puzzled.
“Why doesn’t Susan acknowledge me Jelly? Is there something wrong with her?”
Jelly laughed.
“Oh no, there is nothing wrong with Susan. She just doesn’t say very much that’s all.”
“Well, I’m glad she’s gone really. I want to ask you a few things about Cedric if I can Jelly? I imagine you know that he is very good in the world of business. How can someone be involved in this kind of work, and still go out there and screw people over?”
Jelly took a deep breath.
“In all the time I have known Cedric, I have never known him harm anyone. And yes, you saw him acting very ruthlessly with those people at the bankers ball, but he was only telling the truth. As for his latest deal, I know that he told you that no one would be harmed in the deal, apart from the thieves that were looking to steal from fairly innocent people. Have no fear where Cedric is concerned. He may have a fairly aggressive manner, but he is always mindful of not harming.”
“ Well I’m glad to hear that Jelly.” Jack replied with some relief, “But I do have a central question in all this. Why is the world as it is Jelly? Even Vanessa said that it didn’t have to be this way.”
“Let’s look at the facts Jack. Life on this planet is a self-eating mechanism. Big things eat small things, smart things eat dumb things, and those in turn decompose and feed small things once again. That’s the way it is. The net result is that the strongest, and the most adept at deception, thrive. With those dynamics you can only expect that the most unpleasant species become the dominant ones. And if you look around, you will find that to be the case. Of course, we can entertain the idea that it has all been deliberately created this way, but it is nearer the truth to say that the laws of the universe have blindly brought the situation about. In fact the will to life, or the beast, is as blind as the force of gravity. It is also just as powerful. And just as gravity has no awareness of the galaxies, stars, and planetary systems it has been instrumental in creating, so the life force has no awareness of what it has created on this planet. Human beings are exceptional in that they have a reflective consciousness. You don’t see dogs contemplating the nature of life. As far as we know no animal other than man has the ability to contemplate upon its own existence. It is as if through man, the universe acquires some consciousness of itself. In reality, it isn’t quite as simple as that, but we can leave any elaboration until later. So the world is like it is Jack because the laws of the universe have blindly brought it about that it is this way, and not any other way. Vanessa was correct in saying that it didn’t have to be like this, but for it not to be like this would require the forces of the universe to operate in a different way.
Human beings have this terrible habit of projecting their own capabilities onto the universe as a whole. They assume that because they can consciously design and create things, that the universe operates in the same way. There is no evidence for that Jack. So when people ask why there is so much suffering, the only answer is that this is the way it is. If people could stop imagining that there is some greater power controlling everything, they would then take upon themselves responsibility to improve matters and reduce suffering. It’s almost as though superstition is some kind of avoidance mechanism. If we appeal to some kind of supernatural being, then maybe we don’t have to do anything about the state of the world ourselves.
All of this raises a really important issue Jack. Do you think you have free will?”
Jack looked surprised, thinking the answer was fairly obvious.
“Yes of course I do Jelly”.
“ Have come here tonight if I had not asked you to do so?”
“No of course not.”
“ So there was a reason for you to be here tonight Jack?”
“Well, I’m here because you asked me to be here.”
“Where is the free will in that Jack?”
“ I might’ve decided not to come.”
“Why didn’t you decide not to come?”
“I enjoy coming here jelly, so why would I stay away?”
“Do you think that enjoying these visits was an act of free will on your part?”
Jack paused to think about this one.
“No, I guess not.”
“So there was no free will involve Jack?”
This didn’t sit well with Jack. The idea that he had no free will, and was a sort of robot running on automatic irritated him.
“This is one of the most important things you need to understand Jack. Not only does the world run on automatic, but what happens inside you also runs on automatic. Everything has a cause, and peoples’ actions are no different. So the saint cannot help being a saint, and the mass murderer cannot help being a mass murderer. What any particular person is depends on their genetics and on their conditioning, and no one has control over those things. And so, as the Buddhists would say, there is no blame. The mass murderer is a mass murderer because he or she was never going to be anything else. It doesn’t mean that we let such people do what they want, obviously society needs to be protected from them. But we shouldn’t blame people for being bad, or praise people for being good. Whatever good and bad might mean.”
Jack really was not happy with this.
“So are you trying to tell me that it was inevitable that I would get involved with you and Cedric?”
Jelly could see Jack’s irritation, and wanted to push it further.
“You derive no personal credit whatsoever Jack, for being involved with us. After all, you didn’t make you did you? The fact that you are receptive to this kind of thing, and that you tend to conduct yourself with integrity and honesty, does not mean you get any brownie points. Neither you or I can take any credit for what we do. We don’t have free will, so how could we?”
“Then why should I do any of this Jelly?”
“You do it because you have no option but to do it. It does not mean that you are superior in any way to any other person you see or meet. If you really understand this, you will develop a deep sense of compassion for all creatures, including yourself. We are all machines Jack, and we do nothing other than what we must do. Of course, our egos don’t like this. Your ego believes it is in control, believes it makes decisions, believes it is worthy of praise, and cannot accept that you are a machine influenced by all kinds of events and circumstances. This is why you find it so hard to swallow. Your acceptance and understanding of this is a measure of how much you have acquiesced the fact you have no free will. The strange irony in all this Jack, is that once you really see that you have no free will, you will feel yourself to be totally free.”
This was as much as he could take one day. But he still had to raise the issue of going to business meetings with Cedric.
“Jelly, I’ve decided that I don’t want to do any more business meetings with Cedric. I find them very boring, and the people involved, very unpleasant.”
Jelly smiled.
“The choice is yours Jack, but I would suggest that you go to at least one more with Cedric. You really have to see how these people operate. “
“Okay Jelly, I’ll do one more. But no more after that.”
Cedric had requested that all interested parties in the BellAnywhere deal should meet. Once again, Jack had to travel down to London with Cedric, and got a full briefing as they sat eating their breakfast on the train. Cedric left Jack in no doubt that the three participants from VentureSky would be very angry, and suggested that Jack take a close look at their faces when they learned that Cedric had done the deal behind their backs.
They met at the same location and once again exchanged pleasantries. The share owners from BellAnywhere looked very sheepish, but Cedric was his normal fearless self.
“Gentlemen, I’ve called this meeting to give you some news. The shareholders from BellAnywhere have agreed to do a deal with me for a sum that is about 30% higher than the figures that have been previously discussed. I will be buying all the available shares, and as such there will be no need to progress this any further.”
The senior member from VentureSky stood up.
“ Cedric, you know you cannot do this, you signed an agreement to be partners with us in this. That you would even try and do such a thing is ridiculous.”
Cedric interjected.
“I think if you look at your documents you will find that I didn’t actually sign the agreement. Sure, it looked like I had, but you didn’t have the sense to check that I had actually signed.”
There was frantic examination of documents, and sure enough, where Cedric should have signed there was a blank space. Jack was closely observing the faces of the three people from VentureSky. The only thing he could liken them to was ravenous wolves.
“We will go legal on this. You cannot do this, and no one will ever work with you again in this industry.”
“Gentlemen, you are a bunch of buffoons. In any case, in the deal that I have arranged, no one gets hurt. Unlike the deal you lying bastards put together.” Cedric said with a certain amount of glee.
The lead negotiator for VentureSky rushed around the table and threw a punch at Cedric. Cedric merely deflected it and grabbed this idiot’s throat.
“If you try that again I will send you to emergency.”
With that the representatives from VentureSky left the room. Cedric sat down and drank his tea. The shareholders looked even more sheepish and remained silent. Eventually Cedric reassured them that they had done the right thing, and that the money would be in their bank accounts within 48 hours. Once more, Jack was impressed with Cedric’s fearlessness.
As they left the building Jack turned to Cedric and said, “I never want to see anything like that again, it’s too ugly for words.”
“Well, I hope you won’t have to Jack. But you have at least seen what takes place in the world of business, day in and day out. This is the domain of the beast, and if you know how the beast works, then you will know that everything a person in this line of work says is a lie. Once you realize that, it’s easy.”