Age of Cosmic Exploration Chapter 275: Balance

Chapter 275: Balance

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Speaker Matt was enjoying his afternoon tea. Facing him were four renowned representatives from the House. They were also the spearhead leaders of the "future anarchy" sect.

Yes, the Hope’s political scene could be separated into multiple sects. It was only natural for places where power could be found. This was to be expected as long as there was greed in human beings, even if they were the last s.p.a.ce travellers.

After discounting the small sects that had no influence at all, there were four powerful sects, and one was the neutrals. Their political goal was to ensure the balance of the politics on the Hope, not allowing any other forces that would tip the balance to appear. The amount of people in this sect was small.

The other was neutral with a slant towards Yao Yuan sect. They might lean towards Yao Yuan and admit him as the leader of the Hope and humanity, but they won’t be singing blind praises towards him. If necessary, for the sake of the humanity, this sect would still argue with Yao Yuan. This sect had the most power and the most amount of people. The leader was Speaker Matt.

One was the anarchy sect. They planned to usurp power from Yao Yuan within as small a time frame as possible. These were the people slandering Yao Yuan’s name. The number of people in this sect was low because the actions of their leaders were too obvious and had been cleaned out by Yao Yuan.

The last was the future anarchy sect…

This sect comprised of old Europeans and Americans. They currently occupied the middle and high levels of the government as well as had the greater representation in the House of Representatives. They were the only sect that could rival the neutral sect with a slant towards Yao Yuan.

Their goal was simple. Currently, Yao Yuan was unbeatable. No matter whether it was from the perspective of popularity or leaders.h.i.+p quality, he was the best choice. He was necessary if mankind was to survive in s.p.a.ce. To challenge and slander Yao Yuan now was short-sighted because mankind’s greatest goal now was still to survive in s.p.a.ce.

However, this didn’t means that things wouldn’t change in the future!

Yao Yuan would one day die, be it from accident or natural causes. To prevent his successor from turning the Hope into a dictators.h.i.+p, there had to be changes after Yao Yuan’s death.

The sect’s original goal was rather innocent because they knew that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Yao Yuan might be a great leader, but who could guarantee it would be the same for his successor?

The sect’s original goal was to watch and prevent. It was because of that reason that Speaker Matt allowed the sect to survive, giving it the chance to grow. However, not long after that, the sect started to stray from its a.s.signed goal, or rather, it had been corrupted by power.

Their goal changed to being watchdogs who wanted to prevent the usurption of the power of the government after Yao Yuan resigned. They had to steal the power from Guang Zhen. A large part of them had the stereotypical thinking that all Asians were selfish, immoral, and had a tendency towards dictators.h.i.+p. Weighed down by the white man’s burden, they decided to save the Hope from such a future.

Therefore, they started unconsciously or consciously spreading the rumour that the reason the Hope’s government could be so fair was because most of the government comprised of westerners…

Speaker Matt was an old politician. When he started playing the game of politics, most of the representatives were probably still in their mothers’ wombs. Therefore, how could he not have seen the corruption of this sect’s goal? However, he decided to stay his hand. He might not know the teachings of Lao Zi, but he understood the theory of giving in order to take. The sect had changed and had become a hidden threat for the Hope. One couldn’t spook them before uprooting them with one fell swoop. Plus, he didn’t think Yao Yuan hadn’t noticed this either.

After all, this sect had violated his bottom line. They came after his a.s.signed successor, and Guang Zhen’s position couldn’t be challenged, so this offense was even bigger than slandering his name directly.

"I can’t help you." Matt took off his gla.s.ses and used the cloth to wipe the lens as he told the few people before him.

They were all sweating, and a middle-aged man practically begged him, "Mr. Speaker, I admit there are a few bad apples among us, but the majority of us are good people. The government can’t possibly punish all of us simply because we had a few meals with these few apples before. Plus, I hate to say this, but this is exactly what we were afraid of. Isn’t this an early sign of dictators.h.i.+p…"

Matt glanced at him and said, "Preposterous! Whose dictators.h.i.+p? If there’s a dictators.h.i.+p, there wouldn’t be a House of Representatives and no chance for the lot of you to get corrupted! Do you really think I’m that stupid? Don’t cover up your actual goal with flowery words, like caring for the safety of humanity and the like. I’ll be frank, with the power of military in your hands, what is even humanity anymore?"

Matt sighed. "Actually, you know what? I too have been nursing a constant worry, not about Yao Yuan’s dictators.h.i.+p, because underneath his exterior lives a kind heart. Unlike us, he is not a political player, not because he doesn’t know how to, but because it is below him to do so. This is why so many of you were taken down by him. You people have underestimated him.

"So you do know what my worry is? My worry was us westerners becoming too powerful."

Matt ignored the shocked faces of the representatives and continued, "What is politics? Politics is balance! When one party has absolute say, it is no longer politics, and that will more often than not devolve into anarchy. Currently, the Hope cannot afford an anarchy. Have you people seen the statistics? Currently, 80 percent of the representatives are westerners or have deep relations with westerners. The positions in the middle and high levels of the government, especially all the department leaders, are all occupied by westerners. This is the reason why your sect could get so big and eventually got corrupted.

"This is no longer a balance. I worry that one day the troopers will rush into our homes with guns blazing. I’m not kidding, because at least I know a few of you have already gotten your stubby fingers into the Defense Unit. Don’t deny it, and since I already know about it, do you think Yao Yuan doesn’t?"

The few people there felt cold sweat all over their bodies even though the room was rather warm.

"Therefore, this time I cannot help you. If I do, then I will really have harmed the Hope. Learn when to hold them and when to fold them. Take this as a lesson and retreat while you still can, because I don’t think Yao Yuan is out for blood. Retire and be a quiet teacher or worker. Or even take the time to recuperate at home. That’s better than dragging the whole of humanity down with you, right?"

Matt took a sip from his cup and then said, with eyes glowing with wisdom, "I’m very satisfied with how things are going. From now on, there will be an influx of Asian faces into the House of Representatives and the government. That will be real balance. Of course, there will be small altercations in the future, but as long as nothing happens to Yao Yuan, we’ll be just fine. This is good because this is a good opportunity to eliminate the preconceptions we’ve brought along with us from Earth and enable us to become an actual s.p.a.ce faring civilization. Therefore, I will not intervene in any way, so please return. Be responsible for your own actions."

It was as Matt had predicted, Yao Yuan didn’t draw blood. After capturing the group of officials and representatives, a wind of honesty and dedication started to blow through the Hope. A great amount of evidence was put on display. The evidence of the officials’ corruption, like forceful occupation of public s.p.a.ces, occupation of condos not suitable for their family sizes, smuggling of luxury items, nepotism, and everything else, was unveiled. The punishment would be arranged next but they were mostly monetary punishments; there were no executions.

Around 80 percent of the people punished were Europeans or Americans. Through the dissemination of the Hope Weekly and the internet, the earlier speech about the superiority of the white man dissolved upon itself. Not only had Asians grown some awareness, many westerners did so as well.

At the same time, a large amount of honest government officials were commended. Around 60 percent were Asians who were low level government workers. Just like that, slowly but surely, the winds of power were changing, and no matter whether it was the government or the House of Representatives, the westerners stopped holding the majority…

After the dust settled, five months had pa.s.sed. In that period of time, the three general universities had accepted around 14,000 new students. At the same time, breaking down of the sciences was still going on. The fourth upgrade hadn’t stopped. The Hope was exceptionally busy. Other than children below the age of ten, everyone was busy, be it studying, researching, or working. There was no time for leisure.

However, at a time like that, as if worried the Hope wasn’t busy enough, Bo Li approached Yao Yuan with a whole new design around the end of the fifth month the Hope had idled in s.p.a.ce. It was a new product that utilized the peak of fourth revolution technologies…

s.p.a.ce Combat Jet Prototype 011!