Charles Sabillon became obsessed with the problems of the world since very early in his life. It was in middle school when he began to ponder over them and from that moment on, he saw their solution as his responsibility. That is why he so enthusiastically took to the study of several academic disciplines.

During his post-high school years, Charles was under the belief that accumulating vast amounts of knowledge on matters of economics, sociology, and politics, was essential for tackling the problems of poverty and unemployment.

Poverty and unemployment are the fundamental problems of the world because when a population endures any of the two, people are put under a very heavy strain. For many individuals the stress is so insurmountable, that they end up rolling down the path of violence. Household abuse, crime, terrorism, and war are all directly or indirectly caused by these two.

Most countries of the globe suffer from both and even though developed nations only have to put up with the second, in the last decades they have also endured growing levels of underemployment. Good jobs have become every time harder to find.

Outrage however is not the only by-product of a malfunctioning economy. Diseases are also their doing. Malady is responsible for the vast majority of deaths in the world and most of them are the result of poverty and unemployment because when people have low incomes, they can't buy medical services.

For Charles thus, it was only a matter of eliminating those economic difficulties and the bulk of the problems of the planet would disappear. He thought that the main reason why those two cancers hadn't been eradicated was because the amount of information of the scientific fields that dealt with them was too vast. As a result, a life-time was not enough to digest all the data and politicians were therefore unable to come out with the right mix of policies.

It was a na?ve and idealistic vision of the world but that candidness is what propelled him to put up with 100 hours of work per week. The fast tempo and the die-hard commitment allowed him to cut the time of his studies in half and to learn several languages. Nevertheless, by the time he finished his fifth university degree, Charles all of a sudden realized something. He had been wrong all along.

Yes, the pains of the world could be solved if poverty and unemployment got eliminated, but the thing was that nobody knew how to overcome those anomalies. Over the centuries numerous men of intellect such as Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, and John Keynes attempted to uncover the formula for the creation of wealth. They published countless articles, wrote voluminous books, and traveled the world expounding lengthily over their theories. Those men were by far the most brilliant of their time and they largely outshined everybody else, but in spite of all that, they failed. At the moment of their deaths, they were as far from the truth as the ignorant construction worker who regularly berates incoherently about the ills of his country. None of those intellectuals was ever able to come up with the right formula and with concrete solutions. That is why to this day economics continues to be called the dismal science.

The nations that managed to supersede poverty did not do it because they followed the advice of these men. It was a lucky confluence of events what got them there. It was all due to serendipity. Their relative success (for they continue to endure high levels of unemployment and underemployment) happened without any knowledge of how they got to the top. It is similar to the good fortune that some people have of being pretty, because beauty results from a fortuitous process that nobody controls.

By the time Charles finished his PhD, he was in possession of five university degrees, he spoke fluently several languages, and he had a long list of good connections that could open the doors to paradise. He was offered numerous good jobs as well as several promising business opportunities. There was also an abundance of delightful girls that wanted his company and countless people who wished his friendship. It was the moment to jump into the bandwagon of fun and joy. It was the moment to swim in the pond of honey and milk. The conditions were ripe to cash in on the arduous years of hard work.

However, it was precisely at that instance when Charles uncovered that the problems of the world could not be solved. It was not easy unearthing that information because it is the best kept secret of economists, but once he got hold of the truth, the consequences were devastating. His disillusionment was complete and his frustration all encompassing. He fell into despair as the helplessness of the situation became evident. If poverty and unemployment could not be eradicated, his life no longer had any meaning. What was the point of living, if he could not help the billions of people on this planet? Could he go through life just slouching from one place to another in search of a good job, a pretty girl, and a thrill? Could he ramble through the Earth just trying to maximize his personal gain, his pleasure, and his bliss?

He meditated long over the matter and eventually came to a conclusion. He couldn't remain passive. He couldn't and he wouldn't. He had to take action. If the formula for economic growth had not been discovered, then he would try to uncover it. His chances were not good. They were pretty slim and actually infinitesimal. If the finest brains of the planet had not figured it out, he was surely not going to do it. It was an impossible task but if he had any chance of ever succeeding, there was a need to go all the way and advocate all of his energies into the matter. Charles had to risk it all because that was the only way he could justify his existence.

He thus dismissed all job offerings and lucrative ventures and began to do scientific research. He decided to focus on history and economics, and delved into hundreds of books that recounted the ups and downs of the countries of the world. The young scientist read and read, meticulously taking notes of everything that seemed important. He revised thousands of documents and assiduously studied the information. He compared the figures, he analyzed the numbers, and he pondered the events. Charles plunged passionately into the accounts of the past, hoping that they would provide a clue, a path, and a guide for a better future. However, the weeks turned into months and the months into years without him being able to find anything.

The young man agonized over the lack of progress, but it was clear from the start that the effort was doomed to failure. What he sought was not just any piece of knowledge. It was the ultimate truth. It was the mother of all actualities and the holiest of veritas. It was the most ardently desired thing of all times. The formula for growth was all that and more, but at the same time it was the most elusive of all treasures. What he searched was like the legendary Philosopher's Stone of the Middle-Ages that was believed to have the power to turn everything into gold. This was something less glamorous than the famous stone, but it was clearly more powerful. It alone had the prowess to transform a world full of problems into one of happiness and peace.

During his post-high school years Charles had been obsessed with studying, but once he began to do scientific research, he became messianic. The young scientist was euphoric and increased even more the number of hours worked per week. He had no time to loose. His social life was already very small before engaging on that pursuit, but once the enterprise began, it became non-existent.

Charles loves beautiful women and in particular redheads and blondes, but there was no time for that. Through history, no scientific discovery had ever been made as a result of love and passion. It was persistent and methodic hard work what had always won the day.

Charles also enjoys a conversation over beers with friends, but chatting had never done much either for science.

He as well has a strong liking for certain sports such as soccer, volleyball and ping pong, but that too was time-consuming and there was always the risk of injury. There was a need to do exercise in order to maintain a healthy body but only the sports that would maximize time and were not hazardous could be justified. He thus took up jogging and body building.

Had Charles pursued a more traditional life, he would have enjoyed vacationing in numerous parts of the world and scuba diving in every coral reef of the planet. He would have also relished visiting museums and art galleries, due to his strong regard for paintings. However, none of that was compatible with his agenda.

There would always be time to have fun later, once the discovery had been made and once the problems had been solved.

Charles has been in numerous countries such as the U.S., Britain, Germany, France, China, Russia, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, Mexico, Honduras, Singapore, Hong Kong, Spain, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Cameron, Turkey, Guatemala, and Uzbekistan. In several countries, he has been in as many as a dozen cities and in every one of those places there was always something interesting to see. However, the scientist rarely had the time to unpack his camera. It is in the bowels of libraries and in the solitude of his room where most of his life has taken place. His travels throughout the globe were always motivated by the need to do research and he worked as hard in those sites as at home.

As he accumulated more and more information, he slowly began to see through the maze of data. At a given point, he noticed a variable that outshined all others and seemed to possess the power to provide wealth for all. Was he up to something? Could the mystery finally be lifted? Would people listen? Could governments be convinced to change policies?

However, before he could grin, a new problem arose. Out of nowhere, a large and dark cloud appeared in the horizon. It was huge, being more like a maelstrom and it seemed to be getting larger and darker by the minute. It was a completely new phenomenon that humanity had never confronted and for the first time in millennia, it had nothing to do with poverty. Quite ironically, it was progress what was causing it.

Pollution and global warming are a byproduct of modernity and by the early twenty-first century they were severely threatening the sustainability of the planet. Charles had now a new task. He had to secure wealth for all without destroying ecosystems and increasing world temperature.

Achieving prosperity for everybody was already a difficult an almost impossible enterprise, but attaining it while not harming the environment, was an even more insuperable venture. Perhaps it was a bridge too far and perhaps what he sought was just an illusory fantasy, a mirage, a delusion or a utopia. It was by all means something over dimensional and beyond all proportions.

Maybe it was too much for the young man but then again, there was nothing else he could do with his life.

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