Писатель Илья Розенфельд

Money — as a physical entity, as the greatest artifact, and as the most successful virus in history — deserves a separate, personal dossier. After all, it is the only thing in the world that Christians, Muslims, and atheists all believe in. Let's write the biography of this God. Money is neither metal nor paper. It is trusting cast into form. It is magic. You take a piece of colored paper (which itself costs 5 cents) and exchange it for a bottle of wine that a winemaker labored over for three years. If aliens saw this, they would decide that we are a race of powerful sorcerers. Or idiots under hypnosis. Chapter I. Genesis: The Cow in the Wallet In the beginning, there was Barter . And it was Hell. Imagine: you want an apple. You have a cow. But the apple seller doesn't need a cow; he needs sandals. You need to find a shoemaker who needs a cow, take sandals from him, bring them to the apple seller... While you were running around, the apple rotted, and the cow died of old...

We are accustomed to thinking of war as an event. Like a fire that flares up and dies down. Such naivety. War is not an event. It is a life form. An ancient, perfect apex predator that shares this planet with us. We are not its enemies. We are its food source. Birth and Youth In the beginning of time, War was single-celled. Primitive, like an amoeba. Stone struck stone, a club shattered a skull. It fed crudely, tearing off chunks of flesh, and quickly fell asleep. In the Middle Ages, it entered puberty. It had a growth spurt. War became greedy, sloppy, and gluttonous. It mowed down entire cities without caring about tomorrow. The Hundred Years' War was its teenage rebellion—senseless and merciless. It gorged so much that it almost killed the host. During plague epidemics and endless battles, humanity nearly ended. War got scared. It understood the main law of the parasite: you cannot kill the host . If all humans die, there will be no one to feed on.  The teenage rebellion ...

They say that language was given to man to conceal his thoughts. This is only partially true. Language was given to plebeians to lie. Diplomacy , however, was granted to the chosen few to conceal the absence of thoughts. What is diplomacy? It is the art of saying "Go to hell!" with such warmth and concern that the opponent immediately begins packing their bags, anticipating an exciting journey. It is the ability to pet a dog while the muzzle is not yet ready. The First Consultant The history of diplomacy began not in the embassy offices of Vienna, but in the Garden of Eden. The Serpent was not a villain. He was the first cultural attaché. When the Serpent offered Eve the apple, he didn't lie. God forbid, diplomats don't lie—they "contextualize the truth." — "Will you die?" the Serpent asked ingratiatingly, adjusting an invisible tie. — "What vulgar simplifications. Let's put it this way: consumption of this agricultural produc...

The rain always began the same way — first a gentle breeze, filling the air with something ancient, then the first drops falling like tentative strokes of an invisible brush. People hurried to find shelter, but he stood in the middle of the street, arms outstretched, as if trying to catch something unseen. “What are you doing out there?” she asked, watching him from beneath the café’s awning. He turned slowly, with the unhurried confidence of someone who knows something others don’t. “I’m listening to the rain,” he replied. She smirked. “Oh? Is it telling you fairy tales ?” “In a way, yes.” He looked up. The raindrops fell on his face, sliding down his cheeks, but he didn’t blink. “Rain isn’t just water,” he continued. “It’s memory. The memory of everything that’s ever lived.” She raised an eyebrow. “Right. Scientists have proven you can find DNA in rain drops…” “Not just DNA. Memories.” Now she was intrigued. “You’re saying that in this rain, there could be…” ...