George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 142

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“The most perfect logic in history is the logic of power.”

History is always written by the victor. The loser just gets beaten. What a beautiful logic! Isn’t it an absolute logic that cannot even be refuted?

Of course, the one being beaten might find no logic more infuriating and unfair, but the logic of power is a law of nature that will never disappear or change as long as life exists in this world.

The British knew this fact all too well. That’s why, from the days when imperialism was still in its early stages, they pursued unlimited expansionism until there was no land left on Earth that wasn’t under their control, ultimately creating ‘Rule Britannia’ [a historical British patriotic song celebrating their naval power and empire].

They claimed to be civilizing barbarians or occupying ownerless land, but in reality, they were merely subduing countries, peoples, or tribes without power and planting their flags on them. Since the climate of Africa changed and the ancestors of modern humans spread across the Earth, there was virtually no such thing as ownerless land.

In any case, America was not much different. The personality of the British Empire was directly reflected in America. Since most of the states that made up America were colonies of the British Empire, those who led the War of Independence might not want to admit it, but to some extent, the British Empire could be said to be the predecessor of America.

If the British Empire tried to dominate the oceans, America sought expansion to the West. In this era, called the Wild West, they used the excuse of ‘Manifest Destiny’ [a 19th-century doctrine believing in the U.S.’s right to expand] to drive out the Native Americans. Anyway, the important thing is that America, which boasts of being the world’s police, is also a so-called empire built on blood and corpses.

Of course, no country can speak out against the logic of power at the government level. Or rather, there was one: North Korea. But now, they have completely and forcibly turned pro-American, so they can’t voice such opinions anymore.

“Hey, Yankee. Isn’t that right?”

She swirled the little bit of alcohol left in her bottle and spoke very sarcastically. It was hard to believe that the person in front of her was at the very pinnacle of that logic of power. Her accent was clearly Scottish, but her actions were like those of a Russian *gopnik* [a derogatory term for a young man from the Russian working class, often associated with petty crime].

At least, regardless of anything else, the fact that she was causing a drunken scene with a burly, sturdy man meant that she wasn’t very afraid.

“Ugh.”

Or maybe she was just so drunk that she had lost all fear.

What Bush was thinking right now was:

‘I should have just stayed away.’

That’s what he was thinking.

The reason Bush came to Scotland was nothing special, really. Well, maybe it was special, but in his previous life, there were a few overseas tourist destinations he had really wanted to visit, and a spot in Scotland was among them.

He had already traveled all over America, so all that was left was Europe and Southeast Asia, but it seemed unlikely that he would go to Southeast Asia for work. Anyway, there was a reason why he wanted to go to Scotland, even though there were many good places in England.

‘That son of a bitch really talked it up too much.’

In his previous life, a high school classmate had gone to study in Scotland and become obsessed with it, boasting about it so much, but oh my god. The food was all greasy, and the weather was gloomy. And when I say greasy here, I mean greasy even by American standards. He had been confident that no country could match America in terms of greasiness and saltiness, but how could it be so greasy?

The only thing that was somewhat palatable was Scotch whisky. But even that made him lose his appetite when he saw that drunken lady causing a scene. He should have gone to a proper city instead of coming to this rural area of Scotland.

‘But the village that guy raved about just happened to be here.’

He said the scenery was good, the water was good, and the mountains were good, but the only thing he liked was this alcohol! Well, considering the times, there was some discrepancy. Reminding himself that the standard of living in a rural corner of Scotland was higher than in Korea at the time, it was somewhat understandable.

‘Oh, for fuck’s sake. I should have just had more tea with Blair.’

And besides the overselling of his former friend, who he wanted to grind into powder, there were two other reasons why Bush was here. In fact, the next stop was Afghanistan. Unlike the previous two reasons, the visit to Afghanistan was official, not unofficial. If he moved it up a day, wouldn’t he avoid some trouble in Afghanistan?

Of course, there was a country he had moved up a day earlier, but he didn’t really care since it wasn’t exactly a friendly nation to the United States. More than that, he felt like his weaknesses had been exposed because of some drunkard, so he wasn’t in a good mood.

It wasn’t like he was angry, but it was a trigger. A trigger that would set off all the pent-up annoyance at once. But even if he wanted to vent his anger, it would be a problem if the news came out that ‘The President of the United States got into a fight with a civilian in a foreign country!’

Strong man my ass. Bush felt like the weakest person here right now.

So this was the other reason.

“The soundproofing here is excellent.”

“Oh, was it you?”

No way. The drunken woman who had been irritating Bush’s sensitive nerves suddenly spoke in a clear voice?

“It’s like something out of a spy movie.”

“The last customer has left, so it’s definitely safe here. And it’s not like I’m saying anything wrong, especially when it comes to the ‘spy’ part.”

“To be honest, I didn’t expect you to come in person.”

“I wanted to hear this part directly.”

She took a thick stack of papers out of her bag and winked with a confident expression. She seemed a bit too free-spirited for a CIA field agent in many ways.

‘A CIA agent winking at her boss, oh my god.’

The top of the report read 「Brexit Prediction Report」. This was something Bush had secretly ordered without sharing it with even the Five Eyes [an intelligence alliance of five English-speaking countries]. Coincidentally, the term Brexit would not have been widely used at this time, so Bush was essentially the first to use it in this context.

“This is the intelligence report. Surely there wouldn’t be anyone crazy enough to touch the luggage of a foreign president.”

‘So, someone I know did it?’

Bush felt the urge to slap her, but he mustered what little patience he had left and managed not to do it.

“The report is the report. I want to hear it verbally.”

“First of all, this report assumes a situation where the UK leaves the EU and gathers as much pro and con survey statistics as possible from all over the UK under the guise of a ‘university student assignment’.”

In fact, real college students were used in the Brexit report survey, so it wasn’t really a guise. Of course, if you asked if there was really such an assignment, the answer would be no.

“To put it simply, support for leaving is much higher. Especially among the elderly.”

“What?”

This survey was intended to re-summarize the facts that Bush already knew, but there was already a discrepancy between what Bush knew and what the report said.

‘Is it because it’s just an assumption?’

Or maybe it’s because it’s almost 16 years before Brexit, so there are still many old people alive who are nostalgic for the past. Or maybe it was a backlash caused by the EU very radically uniting EU member states.

Anyway, he decided to focus on the agent’s report for now. It was hard to know with just speculation. He would be able to find out by reading the report.

“Continue.”

“And the lower the standard of living, the more they supported leaving.”

Fortunately, this part was not much different from what he already knew.

“That’s the framework, and the report contains more details. Since it’s just a simple survey that compiled statistics, there isn’t really anything more detailed. However, our agents took some risks and dug a little deeper.”

“About what?”

“The economy. It’s just a simple prediction based on the collected data, but even if the story is officially released, the pound and British stock prices will slowly fall. If the value of the pound falls, the value of the dollar will also fall.”

“Ah, is that so?”

How could he not know this? Back then, Kim Kap-hwan [unexplained reference] had bought some dollars and yen as a small investment, and their value plummeted overnight. Of course, it recovered to some extent later, but the shock at the time was indescribable.

Everyone expected it to go down slowly, but there was no such thing, and it was a complete mess in just one day. The already complex world economy was completely thrown into chaos. At the time of the Brexit vote, it was impossible to withdraw money from ATMs in the UK, the country involved.

“Ultimately, the people’s words have influence but no binding force, but if the people’s will is not equal but leans heavily as it does now, the UK will likely leave the EU as a result.”

The important thing here is not the UK’s domestic situation. It’s what happens after the UK leaves the EU. No matter how strong a person is, they can’t keep moving without rest for the rest of their lives, and eventually, they need a place to lean on. No matter how much the UK is the 5th largest economy in the world, it was difficult to live in Europe while being subjected to all kinds of sanctions against the huge power that is the EU.

“If Brexit is realized, we can completely bring the UK under the influence of the United States.”

In fact, it was already under some influence. The UK’s foreign policy itself was to play the role of second-in-command within Pax Americana [a term describing a period of relative peace dominated by a single superpower, in this case the U.S.]. However, the influence that Bush was thinking of was a step further than the existing influence.

At the time of Brexit, the UK tried to secure new funds by attracting investment from the AIIB (Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank) and China. So, couldn’t the United States provide this AIIB and investment? To completely put the UK in the hands of the United States.

“But will this situation come about? If this actually happens, wouldn’t Scotland and Ireland try to secede from the UK altogether?”

“Well, that’s unknowable.”

The world situation was too different from the history Bush knew. With his will alone, countries were being divided, becoming independent, or reuniting. China, which would have become a G2 [the two largest economies] if left alone, had already fallen to the point of no return.

So Bush couldn’t guarantee that Brexit would definitely happen either. Who knows? Maybe the UK of the future will be the most successful member state in the EU. No one could guarantee the future. But the position of president was not one where you could irresponsibly say, ‘It could be, or it might not be.’

“It’s just to prepare for all situations.”

The moment he put the stack of reports in his briefcase and stood up, the phone rang.

“Ah, just a moment.”

「P, President! Where are you!」

It was the voice of the bodyguards. Bush had forcibly pushed them away, saying that he would move secretly and move alone, but it must have been a hellish time for the bodyguards. After all, even if it was the president’s order, if something happened to the president, they would be fired from their jobs that day, and even if they found a new job, they would have to live with the disgrace of not protecting the president for the rest of their lives. Just a few years ago, there was a president who was assassinated in the United States.

“I’ll be back soon.”

「President? President!」

“I was wondering why I couldn’t see any security personnel, did you really come alone?”

“Maybe I did.”

With that answer, Bush took a swig of Scotch whisky from the bottle. Aside from this report, it was the only value he had found in Scotland.

“Shall I escort you?”

“It’s okay. I’m going to drive myself anyway.”

“Isn’t that a big problem?”

“The helicopter is fine.”

Of course, it was only natural that the helicopter pilot’s response was that it was not okay.