The Infinite Matrix | Michael Swanwick & Francisco Goya | The Sleep Of

Reason 69

07.03.03

the sleep of reason

by Michael Swanwick

with illustrations by

Francisco JosÉ de Goya y Lucientes

Click image to enlarge

Digital image © copyright

Davison Art Center,

Wesleyan University

DAC permission required

for any other use.

69. [Plate 16]

Elena the Libertarian

No one could ruin as many men as did Elena without becoming rich in the

process. Not that she gave a fig for wealth! So long as there were

penises in the world, she would not lack for life's little comforts. But

to a rich man, being drained of wealth is exquisitely humiliating. So

Elena drained, and prospered, and waxed obscenely wealthy.

Which made her an icon to libertarians.

Libertarianism is not so much a political philosophy as it is a sexual

fantasy. It is the doctrine of oddly-dressed men with dead-end civil

service jobs and no social graces who couldn't get a date with a

beautiful woman to save their lives. "If only," they think, eying some

statuesque stranger on the subway, "I could reshape our society from top

to bottom, so that the only positive value was the acquisition of wealth.

Then I could simply offer her money to go out with me ? and it'd be

immoral for her to turn me down!"

like swanwick?

like goya?

so do we.

keep 'em sparring!

send money.

More options on the Contributions page.

T H A N K S !

There is nothing a libertarian admires so much as a woman who whores her

way to wealth. It validates their fantasies on so many levels at once! It

was, therefore, no surprise that one of their number, misunderstanding

Elena's enterprise, should decide to give her an award for what he

thought she was up to. It gave him the opportunity to meet her. He

harbored certain fantasies of what might ensue.

"You are not much of a libertarian," Elena said, tossing the solid gold

street-walker statuette to one side. "You see my example, but you do not

follow it."

"But how could I...?"

"It's the simplest thing in the world!" Elena declared. She made the man

strip down before her and don one of her dresses and her second-best

shawl. "Now you look the part!"

"Will this really appeal to women?" the libertarian asked dubiously.

"Women? Pooh! Women have no money!"

Seizing his hand, Elena led the man to a certain corner. Men coming out

of the nearby bars eyed the libertarian with interest. None of them gave

Elena a second glance. "This is where the young men sell themselves.

Smile and make eye contact. You won't have to wait long."

"But I'm not gay!"

"Be sure to mention that. They'll pay more."

With a cryptic smile, Elena hailed a cab and left.

Though there was nothing in his theoretics to justify rejecting Elena's

scheme, the libertarian was about to gather up his skirts and flounce

away when he realized that he was penniless. His wallet, with all his

money and identification, was in his trousers on the floor of Elena's

penthouse. So were the keys to his apartment. Which was, in any event,

not even in this town.

He shivered miserably in a way that told the world exactly what his

situation ? desperate, clueless, and on the street ? was. The decent men

walked by with averted eyes. The sharks began to circle.

Elena, meanwhile, was sipping a cup of camomile tea. Her heart was

untroubled. The sort of men who frequented straight male prostitutes

could be trusted to finish up the task of ruining her importunate young

libertarian for her.

His wallet she mailed to an AIDS hospice. Not because she was going soft,

but because she wouldn't pass by the bank today, and she didn't want the

grungy old thing lying about her digs.

Money, after all, wasn't everything.

[ Previous ] [ Next ]

This is the 69th of 80 stories by Michael Swanwick written to accompany

Francisco Goya's Los Caprichos. For a listing of the most recently

available stories, go to The Sleep of Reason.

Eileen K. Gunn.

Founding sponsor: Matrix.Net

Hosted by SFF.Net.

-->