The topic for discussion this month was the fanciful dilemma of how to spend a fortune of incalculable wealth, assuming it had arrived in your bank account through legitimate means. A prize (a beautifully decorated cupcake) would be awarded to the most creative narrative, using 1st past the post method of voting.
The responses varied widely, were (for the most part) thoughtful and interesting and reflected each person’s experiences, motivations and underlying principles. Reality and external complications occasionally arose, muddying the waters and required the reminder that this was an exercise in fantasy and need not be justified on practical, moral or ethical grounds.
The ideas ranged from: Jenny’s purely hedonistic approach, (though her proposed lifestyle would create quite a workforce requiring multiple skills to sustain it);
Sue’s totally surreal project of funding TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulus) to create artificial, wearable hands that could be programmed for her to play complex piano pieces, (many more useful medical applications might emerge);
Kay’s overwhelming priority to secure her immediate and extended family’s future, plus the remaining billions to help support hospices and needy charities;
John was cognizant of the ever-increasing cost of his care home and would sleep more easily if this was permanently settled (hey, John, with multi-millions, you could buy a fleet of fully staffed care homes - Ed) but was also cognizant of not wanting to ‘ruin’ his family’s lifestyle equilibrium by giving them everything and destroying the underlying values of work/achievement/motivation.
Len’s proposals were two-fold: on a personal level he wondered whether, when he was a young teenager, he could have persuaded his parents to adopt a more liberal outlook towards their attitude and aspirations for him, (verging on bribery and corruption, I’d say – Ed); regarding the ‘Big Picture’ Len wanted to support a Cinderella-aspect of education – SEND provision within the normal state sector, recognising from personal experience how fraught and frustrating the current situation is for so many children and their parents.
Margaret’s proposal was simply stated – in light of the emerging climate disaster and all that contributed to it, she wanted to “rewild the …. “ – midlands? The nation? The globe? How many trillions has she got? And she’s right – for without a more sustainable future for the planet, there can be no long-term viability for increased SEND provision, for hospices, for TMS, for hedonistic flights of fancy.
Margaret was awarded the cupcake.
My thanks for a hugely entertaining meeting with such a plethora of ideas, desires and heart-felt pledges.