Suppose, for example, that the physician who urges you to take Pill X also owns the company that manufactures Pill X. Or that the kid who wins the local dance competition is related to all the judges. Or that the CEO of Pollute-All Products, Inc., also heads the county’s Pure Water Action League. Ah, but that’s a fiction writer’s imagination for you, working overtime to dream up unlikely plots. Conflicts like these don’t occur in the world we live in, or if they did, would it be worth making a fuss about?