Followed by his own security guy, Stephan ran to his first engineering class for the day, his ear to his phone again. He hauled on the classroom door against a bit of icy snow, insisting to his new additional guard that he preferred to handle his own doors.
“Ah pardon me, Mr. Ambassador, I must go now. I’m in class now. I’ll call you after classes. I’m sure we can work out a trade agreement. My country will indeed develop a leading edge hi tech economy. Indeed. I’ll talk to my Prime Minister.”
Stephan clicked off his phone and stuffed it away.
“Mr. Coburg, you’re late.”
“Ah, sorry about that, Herr Professor.”
“I’ll have a talk with you after class. You can’t let your, er, ah. -“
“My job.-“
Chuckles and snorts throughout the room.
“Ah, yes, thank you. Job. Please do not let your job effect your work here.”
“Certainly, Mr. Hildebrand.”
More classroom chuckles. This was a real hoot.
“Now go on and get to work with your team, please. Don’t be late again.”
Stephan blushed slightly, embarrassed. He felt all eyes on him as he crossed the room to the project he was working on. He was damned glad he had just intercepted the professor’s words before the word monarchy came out.
Shit.
As he pulled out some readouts and virtual blue prints he did up the night before, Stephan got some ribbing from another team.
Another student mocked, “Ah, Pardon me, Mr. Ambassador, I’m in class now!”
Another, “Oh, yes, his job…”
More chortles.
“A monarchy for a job!”
The chortles continued.
Stephan brushed it all aside and pulled out more items from his book bag, including CAD readouts that now projected above his team in 3D much like the older holograms from decades ago. This projection was much better than a mere hologram, this one appeared real and solid. Stephan’s teammates looked over the 3D mock up image, discussing it. The 3D image was soon hooked up wirelessly to a 3D modeling machine, and it began carving out a solid plastic model. Stephan fucking loved Autocad Version 1011.3.
One team member commented, “Not bad, Stephan. But don’t you think we should re-enforce those stingers right here?”
Stephan answered, “It would be a weight problem then.”
“Not with nanopolyhydropoxy.”
“Viscosity problems.” Stephan countered.
“How about some age old solutions.”
“Like aluminum?”
“Something like that.”
Confidently Stephan said, “Too much risk for pitting and corrosion under the wet conditions on comets. Remember what was pointed out in Metallurgy class.”
“Good point.”
Another teammate chimed in, “How about carbon fiber?”
Stephan enthused, a wee bit loudly, “Now that may an option! Oh yes! Carbon fiber!”
From another team, the one persistently teasing him, yet another mock, “Oh yes! Carbon fiber. Like my Lamborghini!”
Stephan gave the guy a playful middle finger with a wag of his head.
Lot’s of laughter now.
In class, Stephan never talked about his things of wealth or about his monarchy. He kept everything low key and as professional as possible. He insisted on merit in the classroom, and in just about everything in life in general. It wasn’t easy, but he was determined on simple merit alone. And he was not without his humor on that.
“Hey Stephan, why don’t you re-design those energy sucking Italian cars of yours?”
Stephan looked up from his project, “You want to know the truth of it?” He paused, engaging eyes, then he delivered, “I am redesigning them so that we may well go back on independent fuels, as we nearly achieved a few centuries ago. I’m doing so, so that we no longer have to depend on Federation fuels. We need to override Federation laws preventing us from using free energy that’s within the very vacuum of space.”
The room listened, other then the one doing most of the teasing. The professor looked on, watching carefully how Stephan handled with challenge.
The mocker shot back, “Ah come on, Stephan, you’re a dreamer! You know those laws can’t be lifted, because they’re in place to prevent runaway consumption and run away industry. The earth can’t sustain it if that happened.”
“Indeed I’m a dreamer.” Stephan said with a subtle smile, a straight yet relaxed back and engaging eye contact.
Stephan waited for the right moment, allowing for the room to think a bit. He then said, “With strong leadership, we indeed can manage free energy without harming the planet. The world needs dreamers again. It is is essential that we start innovating again, and beyond the usual status quo. We have allowed ourselves to become stale, while having the Federation take care of our every need.”
There was silence in the room. The professor was nervous about the political nature of those words, especially in his classroom. He could have cut in to stop it, as was the norm these days. He didn’t. This dynamic was interesting, and revealed what Stephan may be planning to do with his engineering skills within his monarchy.
Finally, a rather serious young man spoke up, “Isn’t it our job as engineers to innovate? That’s what we’re doing right now, look at all these projects.”
Stephan answered, “It’s not enough. Excuse me, Herr Professor for saying that. It all in due respect.”
“No Problem, Mr. Coburg. Ok, class, I think this is a good time to talk about the nature of innovation and incentive. Now, Mr. Coburg, please explain why you feel we do not have enough innovation these days. Let’s keep this discussion free flowing just like our brain storming sessions. As is policy, please treat Coburg as a fellow, like yourselves. Ok, Coburg, it’s your turn to be on the hot seat.”
Oh shit, Stephan was now on the hot seat. He fell back on his training in public speaking, internally calming himself, although a tad nervous because his grades will be affected by his performance and display of knowledge. He drew in air and slowly let it out, imagining that crystalline air travelling up and down his straight back, from the crown of his head to the balls of his feet and back.
“Go on, Mr. Coburg. Listen up class!”
“Ok, Herr Professor. Of course we’re inventing, problem solving and innovating right here in this school, and we will once we’re out there in our careers. Our inventions and designs are meant to make life easier and to benefit humanity. There’s a problem though. There is no real incentive to push things into radically new realms, and no one is being fully rewarded for thinking outside the box.”
A tall sandy haired guy called out, “But why is there a need for thinking outside the box? Things are fine as they are. Life is confortable for most people.”
Stephan answered, “It’s not about mere comfort. It’s not about the latest fast train, the smartest phone, the coldest air conditioner or the smoothest suspension system. It about real problem solving, such as expanding our presence in space, finding cost effective building materials, ways of building that does not cut into the wilderness, having a means of keeping our robots from out doing us, and of course, solving our ever present transportation problems.”
“You mention our robots overcoming us, which is a strong possibility. But how do you prevent that from happening?”
“By placing failsafe systems in them that prevent them from ever becoming self perpetuating, self manufacturing, issues like that. Also by legally limiting the number of them that can be built, and then, most importantly, to stop placing brain implants in humans. Turning humans into near robots is inhumane. It also causes for the risk of evolution taking off with robots. Nature and machine should not be mixed like that. It can easily spin out of control. We’ve grown too content to even address such risks. We like our robots to do very special things for us.”
“Wow!” Someone exclaimed.
Stephan looked around the room, then said, “Our comforts has caused us to become too content.”
“But you live a very comfortable life, Stephan. Many more comforts than the rest of us.”
“Indeed I most certainly do, and I’m grateful for it.”
“Doesn’t your comfort lead to your own contentment?”
Another student said, “Obviously Stephan is not content. Look at his recent power grab.”
A few people agreed.
Someone who was a member of the lower aristocracy, and with a modest income asked, “Why aren’t you just happy and content with what you already have? Most wealthy aristocrats like you are glad to quietly enjoy their comforts.”
Stephan smiled gently, “Because I see exactly what we’re capable of. We can accomplish so much if free to do so, and have the incentive to push things forward. We need to break out of this whole zero growth bullshit we’ve been in over the past 300 years.”
“Mr. Coburg, keep your language professional, please.”
“Pardon me, Herr Professor. Sorry about that.”
The class went into uproarious laughter.
Here is a guy that’s a reigning king, and he’s so fucking human.
Someone asked, “What kind of incentives are you thinking about?”
Stephan answered, “Let’s put the ball in your court. You tell us what you think that incentive should be. How would you like to be rewarded as an engineer, if you were to solve a major problem for humanity?”
The professor’s brows lifted in interest. He liked that move on Stephan’s part. The kid is a real pro at discussion.
The other student answered Stephan, “Recognition, of course!”
“Not enough. Mere recognition is not enough to drive true innovation. We have people displayed on all kinds of bronzes, billboards, commercials, banners, train terminals, plaques and such, all called heroes for their accomplishments. Our accomplished people are lost in a sea of other state heroes. But how are you living? Is your accomplishment going to change the way you and your family live? Sure, you may become a state hero, but no matter what you invent, you’ll still live in a high rise, limited on what you can consume, probably not allowed to have a large dog, probably not allotted a car, not able to save up enough to start your own business. So why then innovate?” Stephan gestured to another student, as he heard murmurs throughout the class.
He asked the other student, a young lady, “What do you think the incentive should be?”
The girl answered, “A secure job, a secure life. Stability.”
“No, not enough. Again, we’re back at simply being content and passive. No real drive to find new frontiers, no drive and no risk taking that’s needed to bust limitations. And you, over there, what would push you to bust limitations?”
The other guy looked at Stephan squarely in the eye, “If I knew I can create a rich life like yours, I’d reinvent the entire world! If I had my own business, and created machines that people really wanted, and could get rich, I’d go the extra mile. I would want to work longer hours.”
“And what is it about being rich that would drive you?”
“The ability to influence the community, send my kids to the best schools, help build a church or a school – and have fun! Look at you, you seem to have a lot of fun!”
“Indeed I do have my fun. Because of the chance to create wealth, to have it and to enjoy it, I tend to work hard and play hard. I have big dreams, and am driven to create and use wealth to manifest those dreams.”
“But you’re born into wealth. You don’t need to work so hard.”
“I don’t need to work hard indeed. If I didn’t have big dreams, I probably wouldn’t work as hard as I do. But I know that not much is accomplished without funding, and I’m ambitious.”
“I don’t get it. Why even work. You’re a billionaire, right?”
“I am. But my funds are tightly controlled and highly invested in land and industry. I actually live on an allotment of about a quarter million a year, and then on whatever I earn from my businesses. Even those earnings are highly controlled until I’m fully matured. I take no pay from my kingdom. I refuse to.”
“Wow!” someone exclaimed.
“He sounds like a Republican! Taking no government money!”
Stephan laughed, and gave that guy a thumbs up, and went on, “I’m not allowed to vote, because my job now, being a monarch, but that’s a good one, Peter. Anyways, it really paid off for me to start some businesses. I started my first while still in high school, with only a hundred thousand and it has grown to a net worth of a hundred million. It’s a quantum computing company. That’s just one of them. I can’t encourage people enough to own their own business.”
“Where do you find time to run them, and do all the other things you’re doing?”
“Like this morning,” Stephan looked the professor’s way, “time is always an issue. I hire MBAs to manage my businesses. I give them a very good incentive, which is a percentage of the earnings. That alone drives innovation, and we’re coming up with some pretty cool tech. But I don’t run them personally anymore. I don’t have time.”
Another student said, “Only certain people as approved by the Federation are allowed to own a business. Everything else is a corporate collective.”
Stephan said in a re-assuring voice, “And that needs to be changed. I’m working on that one, at least in my country.”
“You’re using your position as King to push along free enterprise!”
“Right!”
The professor now spoke, “Ok, I think that makes a good stopping point, because that makes a good conclusion. This has been a very good hot seat, Mr. Coburg. This is the first time you have spoken freely about your monarchy and about your wealth. I know you don’t like talking about it in class, so I have to thank you for opening up.”
“It’s my pleasure Herr Professor, and all of you.”
Stephan was greatly relieved when he was off the hot seat, and gladly went back to his team’s project. Everyone in that class had their moments on the hot seat, but never on something like this. It was usually about mechanical problems, cost effective materials or project management issues. Not revolutionary capitalism and monarchy.
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