“What’s he selling?” Dortmunder asked.

“Money,” Kelp said.

Dortmunder thought about that. “Then what are people buying it with?”

“Also money.”

“He’s selling money for money.”

Kelp held up a finger like it was supposed to make him look smarter. “The thing is he makes up his half of the money. It’s like at the airport when you change Canadian dollars for real dollars. Only he’s starting his own Canada where he’s got all the money.”

“And you buy this fake Canada money with real money.”

“Yeah. It’s real smart, right?”

Random observation:

The narrative structure of news is beginning-middle-interruption. The great issues are only followed until something new comes to grab focus. And then we usually don’t go back.

And because we’re accustomed to that, we unconsciously expect it. The Covid-19 pandemic was a huge news story, and it was interrupted by the murder of George Floyd by a representative of the state and the protests against police violence that followed.

And we have been conditioned to expect that. Covid-19 isn’t the story anymore.