67 The Real Game of Missing Money sufficient to strike terror throughout the family, leaving those in command of the family trusts unquestioned, as their offshore accounts and numerous enterprises grew. The result was a fragile peace that grew thin, as the deterioration in the infrastructure of the estate and the structure of the mansion accelerated. Innovation was not encouraged. The managers were interested in their own global competition. They did not want any pesky entrepreneurs taking risks that could in any way attract attention or create liabilities for their grand plans. Indeed, young members were encouraged to use student loans to get their advanced education, ensuring their dependence on their allowance and reluctance to branch out on their own. Thus, the family mem- bers’ general understanding of the world around them and how to navigate it deteriorated rapidly. Now the day has come when the deterioration in the management of the estate, the growing debt, the structural problems in the mansion, and the diminution of the family trusts necessitates a dramatic reduction in allowances. Those in control face a marketing challenge. How do they arrange a dramatic reduction in allowances without providing an accounting of where the monies have gone, thus threatening their offshore holdings and enterprises, or exposing criminal liabilities to their global enemies? How do they maintain control without the continual flow of allowances to placate family members? And what will happen when the family members discover that their retirement savings and benefits are empty promises? A task force of family lawyers and counselors is com- missioned to make recommendations as to what can be done. They are instructed by the controlling family members to only make recommendations that involve cutting allowances or require contributions from those receiving them. Under no circumstances are they to ask for a real ac- counting or to delve into the issues related to where family capital has been shifted abroad, the fundamental flaws in the family governance systems, property infrastructure needs, or the need for serious investment in the mansion foundation, let alone examine how to reinvigorate the prosperity of the land and property and the productivity and health of family members. They are to deal only with whose allowances are to get cut and by how much—and how much various family members should contribute to a fund to restore the property. The family lawyers and counselors want to keep their jobs and they certainly do not want to be “suicided.” So, for months, they argue over proposals—none of which address the real problems, let alone solve them. After months of this, the family members reach a unique consensus, deciding that their lawyers and counselors are incompetent and should be replaced by new ones. Who will, of course, be subject to the same restrictions….