“Even that will be hard to get anywhere. Not until there’s real change. But it’s something. The money, yes. But also the exposure of what’s happening.”

Joyce looked at the wall, then looked back at him.

“What do you think qualifies as real change, Donny?”

“Getting him out of office. A new government.”

“You really think that will do the trick?”

“It would be a good start.”

“And he gets to go back to his Park Avenue penthouse?”

“We could try to get him indicted.”

“They’ll never do it. People are too chickenshit. They’re afraid of real justice. Because they know if we get it, it might come for them next.”

Donny considered that.

“People suck, Donny. Especially if you give them power, or money. They will hoard it, and never be satisfied.”

“So I noticed. But here we are. And I am here to tell you I am going to get you out of here so you can do whatever it is you think will fix it.”

“It’s not fixable. I mean, not unless you want to get way more radical. Like undoing-the-agricultural-revolution radical. Which is obviously not possible.”

“I know, you have your own theory about revolution. I was one of the first ones to hear it.”

“I was wrong about that. I didn’t appreciate it until I started working this plot, and the big cornfields they are planting farther east. It’s not about oil, Donny. It’s not about high finance. It’s about grain. That’s where it starts, at least. Bending nature to serve man. Building permanent settlements devoted to it. Forcing people to work on it. All to accumulate surplus. Cities, money, all the foundations of civilization and culture—all that is rooted in our dominion, and comes with inequality and injustice preprogrammed. You just can’t fix it. And the other thing it’s preprogrammed for is collapse. Because people can never get enough.”

“We can change. Build better systems and come a lot closer than we do now. Do a better job of making sure everyone gets their fair share.”

“Maybe,” said Joyce. “Probably. But it’s hard to care about people once you see what they’re capable of. And once you learn what these guys have taught me.”

“What’s that?” asked Donny.

“That the only thing that people really respond to is pain, or the fear of pain.”

“I’m so sorry, Joyce. I feel like it’s my fault.”

“It’s a gift. Now I’m cauterized to it. And I know better what can be done.”

“What’s that?”

“The human race is doomed. And that’s a good thing. The planet will be better off without us. I’d give it a few hundred years to extinction, based on where we’re at today. Maybe it’s a few millennia. But other species will rise. And hopefully they will turn out better.”