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I've been on a Doc Savage kick lately, and after reading maybe 8 or 9 in a row, I dug into The Dagger in the Sky. Investigating a deadly conflict between two South American countries, Doc discovers he has been battling a cartel of the seven richest men in the world, who have been fomenting war to their own ends. In the story's climax, the group - led by B.A. Arthur - attempt to recruit Doc to their cause. (The story was written in 1939...but feels uncomfortably modern) 

  “Our motives for doing this, you may or may not know, are – well, they are idealistic...”

   “Idealistic?”

   B.A. Arthur cleared his throat. “The world today is a turbulent, war-ridden place. In no country, no nation on the face of the earth, are property rights unhampered by taxation. I am an American citizen, for instance, and when I die, the United States government plans to take over half my fortune in inheritance taxes – which means they will take some seven hundred million dollars, in spite of all my lawyers can do to the contrary. Granting, of course, their taxation had not made me a pauper before then.”

   B.A. Arthur scowled before he continued.

   “Government meddling – you find it everywhere. Take the New York Stock Exchange, for example – what do you find? Government regulation everywhere you turn. The banks? Deposit insurance – eating up the banker’s legitimate profit. Utilities? Government competition forcing rates down until return on capital is cu to a measly seven or eight percent.”

   Doc Savage looked around the table and said, “The point is that you fellows – you very wealthy men – don’t like the way the world is today. That it?”

   “Exactly”

   “And you propose?”

   “To take over the mountainous portion of Cristobal – a perfect place to live, if ever there was one on the face of this earth....”

   “And then?”

   “We will create a sanctuary for wealth,” B.A. Arthur said grimly. “There will be no income tax, no inheritance tax, no tax on any business enterprise of any size. There will be no regulations. Operating from such a country, we will soon make it the financial center of the world.”

   “What about the natives of Cristobal?”

   “Oh, them? They will be shown their place.” B.A. Arthur suddenly pounded the table. “There will be none of this damned rights-of-labor stuff! No unions. The first time the fools go on strike, we’ll have them shot down. That’ll teach them!”

   Doc Savage remained emotionless, asked, “And where do I come in?”

   “We need brains. We might hire yours.”

   “What makes you think I would work for you?”

   “You’re one of those idiots who spends his time trying to make a better world, aren’t you? Well, we’re offering you the chance of your lifetime.”

   Doc Savage shook his head.

   “You won’t do it?” B.A. Arthur exploded. “But we’ve kept your friends alive solely in hopes of getting your good will in the end.”

   “No.”

   “And why not, you idiot?”

   Doc said, with no noticeable excitement in his voice, “This whole setup is rather hideous. It’s selfish and ugly. It is simply a case of rich men – men more wealthy than anyone has a right to be – trying to keep their money and get more.”

**Doc ultimately send the men to his "college" for surgical reconditioning: "Our men at the college have had plenty of experience training men to hate crime...It should be no more difficult to train men to do good with money")**

Currently wading through the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier. Out of the frying pan...