George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 78

< Episode 77 >

“The gold-collecting campaign, you say?”

Upon hearing that, the aide outwardly maintained composure but couldn’t quite suppress the tremor in his voice, a result of barely swallowed embarrassment.

What was a gold-collecting campaign? Ultimately, it was picking the pockets of the people under the guise of patriotism. Perhaps ethnic minorities wouldn’t participate much, and only the gold from the Han Chinese pockets would be collected. Even that would amount to a considerable sum, but it was also true that it would be somewhat insufficient to overcome the current crisis.

“Got a better idea?”

Indeed. The problem was that there wasn’t a better idea. Since the concept of currency was introduced to civilization, regardless of East or West, there has been a common fantasy. Usually, it’s wishing that money would fall from the sky, or more briefly, dreaming of a windfall. There were a few ways to dream of a windfall not just on a personal level, but on a national level as well.

The gold-collecting campaign was the worst method for a nation driven to the brink, clinging to its people as a last resort. It was an admission that the state had lost its ability to control the economy, a method of begging solely for the mercy and patriotism of its own citizens.

“Is it a complete donation? Or is it like an investment that is repaid after a certain period?”

However, as the saying goes, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. The gold-collecting campaign wasn’t something that could be easily achieved. As much as the weight of the collected gold was based on patriotism, paradoxically, patriotism was consumed as much as the gold that was taken out where it was needed. If that change wasn’t noticeable to the people or sufficiently appealing, it could cause patriotism itself to become distorted or destroyed.

“We’ll do both. But the latter has to be to my liking.”

The first had the character of charity, while the second had the form of collection. If the gold of imprudent nouveau riche and disloyal party members was collected under the name of ‘voluntary investment,’ a considerable amount of gold would be gathered.

“Understood. Where will the collected gold be used?”

Hu Jintao’s eyes widened at those words. He felt the hot fire that had invaded his brain finally reaching for his spinal cord.

‘I’m going crazy!’

Of course, the plan was to sell it off to secure the budget. As an aide, he couldn’t possibly not know that. So, this question was asking where that budget would be used. But in Hu Jintao’s mind, it sounded like, ‘Where are you going to embezzle the gold to?’

In fact, it wasn’t that he hadn’t considered it. But China’s financial situation was so bad. It was so severe that they needed to manage citizens by dividing them into grades based on residence, loyalty, occupation, and wealth, not just focusing on the Han Chinese.

The citizen grading policy was already being promoted to some extent thanks to IT technology, camera technology, and the development of mobile devices, but it was so serious that they had to divide welfare and benefits, including tax reductions, according to the grades, not just simply dividing them.

This was a typical symptom of paranoia. Recognizing that his mental state was becoming increasingly unstable, Hu Jintao repeatedly slapped his head with his palm. Seeing a handful of hair in his hand, he barely regained his senses.

‘Damn it! I’m losing my hair!’

He forcibly pushed down the rising excitement into his chest. Anger was welling up inside, but he couldn’t express it for the sake of his head.

“First, half of it must be returned to essential national projects. The only way is to use the remaining half to pay off debts.”

In short, he was saying that he would somehow manage to control China through the central government. Hu Jintao internally decorated and refined the words, but they didn’t fit, so he threw them all away.

So, he decided to just write the speech with sincerity, as it came out of his mouth.

“Take this down.”

「Dear comrades,

Jiang Zemin’s machinations have ruined the light and salt designed by former Chairman Deng Xiaoping.

The reform and opening have gone awry, and the party and the state are in danger.

The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and socialism with Chinese characteristics, Xiaokang [a moderately prosperous society], where all people enjoy a comfortable and prosperous life. Our proud anti-corruption struggle has all turned into bubbles.

The People’s Republic of China is in danger of collapsing right now.

I won’t say much.

Please collect gold so that the People’s Republic of China can recover.」

And Hu Jintao’s speech became a red post horse running a thousand miles, heading to all parts of China. The speech, which would normally have taken at least 90 minutes, ended in less than a minute. Originally, a speech is meant to give a shock with just a few short words.

Whether it was TV, radio, newspapers, posters, or word of mouth, any medium that could deliver information was used to talk non-stop, sweeping across China from cities to villages to remote mountain areas.

Few people volunteered, but that alone easily surpassed the population of most countries. In China, which boasts the world’s largest population, a long history, and vast land, gold was collected, collected, collected, and collected again.

However, the process was not always smooth.

“This is an opportunity. The party, the central government, is shaking!”

“We have to embezzle the gold somehow.”

The 55 ethnic minorities didn’t want to see that happen. However, not all of them moved with independence and national self-reliance as their goals.

“Is this really the place? What does it look like?”

“That’s how things are done in the provinces.”

It was impossible for ethnic minorities armed with knives or old-fashioned assault rifles to rob gold protected by public security and the military. So, they came up with a trick: they decorated buildings like official gold collection headquarters and put on a show of collecting gold among themselves.

Then, driven by herd mentality, many people soon gathered, and soon more than dozens of kilograms of gold were collected. Some fake gold collection campaign headquarters showed meticulousness by giving out small gifts in return for gold.

The Chinese government wouldn’t let this go, but even if they committed fraud, they couldn’t mobilize manpower due to a lack of budget, so they couldn’t catch them properly.

“Raid! Arrest them all!”

These fake gold collection campaign headquarters were all destroyed with the mobilization of the military and police, and those involved were harshly arrested. However, it was an open secret that a very small amount of gold was lost in the melee, and the pockets of the dispatched military and police became thicker than they should have been.

That’s how the gold collection campaign started a week ago.

Everything was going well. Although the purity was not classified, about 4,500 tons of gold had already been collected based on simple calculations alone.

“How are you going to do the latter?”

The nouveau riche and some weak party members. Among them, those whose ties to ?? City were weak and who had been at odds with Hu Jintao since Jiang Zemin’s time.

“There were some people I didn’t like very much.”

「There are national traitors who do not give gold in this situation. While the people are giving their wedding rings, they are piling up gold like mountains and waiting for the market price to rise, looking for an opportunity to exploit the impoverished masses.」

In fact, up to this point, the purpose was good. Although it was a direct contradiction to Deng Xiaoping’s black cat, white cat theory [pragmatic approach to economic policy], policies inherently change according to geopolitical circumstances. In the first place, the black cat, white cat theory implies the theory of allowing some to get rich first. The theory of allowing some to get rich first is a theory similar to the trickle-down effect, where those who are capable get rich first and help those who are left behind.

However, the nouveau riche and politicians, who were only eager to sweep up money, only accumulated dirty wealth evading taxes in their warehouses, and the trickle-down effect never occurred in Chinese society. China’s wealth gap was truly terrible.

Legally, the concept of a minimum wage existed, but only a very small number of people could benefit from the minimum wage. 40% of Chinese people ate rice balls dipped in salt water for meals, and if they couldn’t work, they were subjected to inhumane persecution, such as being cursed and kicked in the groin.

Therefore, 40% of Chinese people were enthusiastic and cheered for this speech. The middle class also supported it, as the speech was not entirely unsympathetic. But is China a country that moves according to the preferences of the people? It is a country where the top 1% moves.

Hu Jintao himself had no idea that what he said would have such repercussions. At best, he assumed that villagers would beat up foreign nouveau riche, or that some foolish people would make futile attempts to flee abroad.

His expectations were not entirely wrong. However, the problem was that the scope far exceeded Hu Jintao’s imagination.

“Riot?”

“It’s the Communist Youth League!”

The Communist Youth League was the party’s network led by Hu Jintao. The moment he heard that, the pain of an icicle stabbing his heart preceded his bewilderment. Instinct preceded understanding.

“Why the Communist Youth League?”

Did they start a rebellion? What a terrifying sound! Hu Jintao was so horrified that he jumped up from his seat without realizing it. If this was true, he had to flee abroad immediately.

“It’s not the party.”

“What?”

“It’s not the party, but those belonging to the ‘Chinese Communist Youth League,’ the foundation and basis of the Communist Youth League, the reserve party member system, are running wild. Chairman Hu Jintao!”

What kind of crazy talk is this again?

“The children of some high-ranking officials, overinterpreting Your Excellency’s intentions, are leading the people and senselessly destroying everything! The public security is not responding properly. We must stop them!”

‘They’re destroying everything? That’s, that’s…like.’

“The Cultural Revolution?”

That’s how the Red Guards appeared in the 21st century.

* * *

“They’ve collected a lot of gold.”

One thing Hu Jintao overlooked was that he was blinded by the reassurance that the golden light brought, forgetting the existence of one person who would never leave China alone.

There were so many modifiers to refer to that person.

According to Republican polls, the most popular person in the United States, the most praised person in the United States, one of the 100 most needed figures in the United States!

According to Democratic polls, the least popular person in the United States, the most criticized person in the United States, one of the 100 most unnecessary politicians in the United States!

Still, an individual on whom both parties agree is ‘the most famous person’ in the United States!

It was George W. Bush.

“Hey, Chief of Staff.”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“Do you like gold?”

“Is there anyone who dislikes gold?”

It might be a different story for ascetics who can see gold as if it were stone, but is there anyone who can hate gold, born in a capitalist world?

“That’s good. I was just thinking that it would be nice if the national treasury was a little thicker.”

‘What on earth is he thinking this time?’

The Chief of Staff sighed inwardly. While assisting President George Bush, there wasn’t a day when he didn’t sigh. Come to think of it, there didn’t seem to be a day when he didn’t sigh.

“It’s nothing. I was just thinking how nice it would be if that gold was in our national treasury.”

“Yes?”