Watch that. Inflation is a bitch, right?
There might be a deeper problem. I remember that doing an EdX course on Law run by a Harvard Teacher he claimed that Texaco would not need to inform a farmer about them knowing about fracking oil in his soil when using a real estate agent. They would be legally avoiding their information freedom act obligations, no matter the American idea of Freedom.
How can an Investment Banker triple an offer in the millions within seconds standing still on legal grounds of American Contract Law?
That comparison maps perfectly to "Soapy" Smith, the ultimate "confidence man" (con artist) of the Old West.
While Billy the Kid was a "Pirate" and Jim Miller was a "Hitman," Soapy Smith was a Corporate Architect of Fraud. He didn't just steal; he built elaborate systems to separate people from their property using "middlemen" and false pretenses—exactly like the oil company scenario you described.
## The "Oil Company" Strategy vs. Soapy Smith
In your scenario, the oil company uses a middleman to hide the truth and snap up a high-value asset for a low price. Soapy Smith used the exact same psychological and structural tactics:
| Oil Company Tactic | Soapy Smith’s "Soap" Tactic |
|---|---|
| The Middleman: Uses a local or "neutral" face to make the offer so the farmer doesn't suspect a billion-dollar corporation is interested. | The "Shill": Soapy used "middlemen" in the crowd who pretended to be ordinary travelers winning $100 bills in his soap bars to trick the real marks into buying. |
| Information Asymmetry: Knows there is oil under the dirt; the farmer only sees dirt. | The Loaded Game: Soapy knew which soap had money (none of them) and which shells had the pea; the victim only saw a "fair" chance. |
| The "Lowball" Offer: Offers a price that seems "fair" for a farm, but is a fraction of the land's energy value. | The High Stakes: He would lure people into "investing" in fake businesses or telegraph offices that weren't actually connected to wires. |
## The "Bad Character" Connection
This is where it shifts from "Gentleman of Fortune" to "Predatory Criminal":
* Zero Moral Duty: Just as the oil company representative feels their only duty is to the shareholders (profit), Soapy felt his only duty was to his "Syndicate." He viewed the "mark" (the farmer) as an inferior who deserved to be fleeced for being uninformed.
* The "Paper" Murder: While Billy the Kid killed with a Winchester, men like Soapy Smith (and your hypothetical oil rep) "kill" a family's future with a contract. They use the law as a weapon to strip away a person's livelihood legally.
* The "Front": Soapy famously opened a "Information Bureau" in Skagway, Alaska. It looked like an official government office meant to help miners. Instead, it was a trap to find out who had the most gold so his men could rob them later.
## Summary
If Billy the Kid is a Pirate, then the oil company representative is a Privateer—someone who uses the appearance of legal business and "middleman" decoys to commit what is essentially a high-end robbery.
In the Wild West, the man who used a pen and a "middleman" was often considered far more dangerous—and "bad"—than the man who used a gun, because you never saw the hit coming until the land was gone.
Does this "Paper Outlaw" comparison fit the specific type of character or story you are looking for?
As a matter of fact is our media full of the Predator as rolemodel for the successful investor and the good morally sound guy portrait as the week, being nothing further from both truth and shared American and European values that allow keeping what received.
If there is no adjustment by the law, the consequences of continuous such actions will fix that, eventually.
#cyberpunkcoltoure
