Rebirth in America

During one dinner, at the dinner table, Bart and Angel discussed the issue of voting. Next year will be an election year. As emerging entrepreneurs, they must pay attention to the establishment of the next government.

"I think we should support the Republican Party. Their governing philosophy is more in line with the interests of our large companies." Bart held up the steel fork in his hand and said while eating.

Angel was a little unhappy when she heard this. She said, "You are now rich, so that's why you say this. But you can't just think about yourself, you must think more about the situation of others, especially the poor."

The Republican Party is a party that favors the wealthy. Usually high-income earners and capitalists vote for the Republican Party because this party advocates tax cuts, so the benefits are those who make more money. Also, the Republican Party is a hawkish political party in the United States and likes to fight. The main supporters of the Republican Party are arms dealers and oil companies.

The Democratic Party is different. This party mainly cares for the middle and lower classes, and advocates raising taxes on high-income groups to provide benefits to low-income families in order to balance the income gap among various classes in the United States.

"Alex, do you think it's better to support the Republican Party or the Democratic Party?" Bart didn't want to argue with his wife, so he turned the topic to his eldest son next to him.

Alex thought for a moment and said, "No one supports it. I'm not old enough to vote yet."

Many times, when Alex faced reporters, he was always asked about his political affiliation and whether he supported the Democratic or Republican parties. When asked this question, Alex always smiles and says: "I'm still young and don't have the right to vote. I don't know much about either party."

The Carpenters discussed this question over dinner because they were asked this question on various occasions. The Carpenter family has developed to the point where they can influence elections. Their wealth is so large that they only need to spend a small part to support the entire election expenses of candidates in a certain constituency.

In the United States, people who don’t care about elections have no status. If a person with status ignores elections and stays away from electoral activities, he is likely to be excluded from his original class.

During the time that Alex came into contact with Howard Hughes, he began to get a glimpse of the upper class society in the United States. He used to think that as long as he worked hard to make money and was honest, he would be able to live freely. Now it seems that that idea is really naive.

When Hughes chatted with him, he intentionally or unintentionally revealed the cruelty of the struggle at the top. In particular, Hughes had to fight with the boss of Pan Am Airways for TWA. At that time, Pan Am's boss colluded with members of the U.S. Congress and tried to put pressure on Hughes to monopolize the operation of U.S. air routes.

Faced with heavy pressure, Hughes did not give in, but continued to fight. As a result, the opponent's methods were endless. Investigations, searches, questioning, etc. made Hughes fight against the odds. He was determined to make the plane he built fly into the sky.

During this struggle, Hughes' office and residence were searched from top to bottom by government officials. He also had to go to court to face the inquiry of the investigative committee, and was finally defeated by the fact that the "Hercules" aircraft could fly. to attack his enemies.

Hughes didn't offend anyone, he just blocked someone else's way of making money. His company was so big that it became a stumbling block for others, who viewed him as a thorn in their flesh. Faced with this kind of pressure, normal people will become abnormal, let alone Hughes.

The Carpenter family has risen so fast. In just six years, it already has assets worth over 100 million, which makes people jealous. Many newspapers and radio stations began to carry out special reports on them, attracting more people's attention. This put a lot of pressure on the Carpenters. All newspapers and TV viewers were asking "how did the Carpenters make their fortune" and "where do they live?"

Thousands of news reporters and photographers swarmed around their home, trying to get a picture of the Carpenter family.

They also received phone calls and letters from friends and family they had never heard of from all over the world, who were trying to get something out of the Carpenters. There are also all kinds of scammers surrounding them, trying to blackmail them out of money.

Fortunately, Bart moved immediately after seeing this situation and hired bodyguards to protect them. The Carpenters were also banned from appearing in public, and it was a long time before curiosity about the Carpenters' family waned slightly. Those scammers who were trying to gain benefits found that they couldn't get close to them, so they dispersed.

However, there is still an invisible pressure that makes them breathless at all times. This pressure comes from all aspects. Not only Alex is aware of it, but Bart and Angel also start to worry about all kinds of troublesome things. They are like children with no ability to protect themselves, walking in the busy city with a lot of money in their hands. Many people are eager to take advantage of their wealth.

The Carpenter family may be able to live in peace for a while now, but if they want to live in peace for the rest of their lives, they must have the ability to protect themselves. The simplest way is to take sides, whether it is an elephant or a donkey. After you have your own political stance and party, you can at least withstand many malicious attacks.

There is a better way, which is to control public opinion and reduce appearances in public. Even if there are news reports, try to report some positive news. People who come from the era of information explosion will not be unaware of the importance of public opinion. To a certain extent, controlling public opinion is equivalent to having the ability to manipulate public opinion.

After Alex figured this out, he went to his parents and said, "Let's buy a newspaper or a radio station!"

In this era, the main channels for people to receive information are reading newspapers and listening to the radio. If you want to control public opinion, it's best to own a newspaper or a radio station.

It's a pity that few people think of this. Alex's suggestion failed to win the approval of the Carpenters. They believe that the Carpenter family has enough property now, and it is impossible to manage things like buying newspapers or radio stations.

"Why do you want a newspaper and radio station?" Angel asked, knowing that her eldest son would not do anything useless.

Alex thought for a moment and told his parents what he thought. He believed that if the Carpenters had one or two newspapers or radio stations, it might be able to influence other people's views on the Carpenters, or at least let people know the good side.

After hearing this, Angel shook his head and said: "Things will not be as simple as you think. One or two small newspapers and radio stations will not make any difference. You must become the leader in the country to be able to influence the direction of public opinion, but , with the current wealth of our family, it is simply overestimating our capabilities to want to play with this kind of thing now.”

Bart also nodded in agreement. It's not that they haven't thought about controlling public opinion, but they are powerless. They can only influence government policy by supporting their own candidates, and then let the government protect the Carpenter family's industry.

Now the Carpenter family's industry has developed to a bottleneck. They seem to be very powerful and wealthy, but in fact, as long as the government adopts a policy, their industry can be wiped out. The Carpenter family is now like a castle on the beach, which will be washed away when the waves come.

"Son, the electronic products produced by our Carpenter Electronics Company have caused many companies to go bankrupt. If we want to continue to operate, we must tightly embrace the thighs of the military and let them continue to buy our products. Especially computers, they're happy with that kind of thing." Bart put his hand on Alex's shoulder and recounted his thoughts.

He paused and continued: "However, relying on this alone is not enough, so we must participate in this election. Make a good bet. If the bet wins, we will be able to develop smoothly. If If you lose, that might be the end of it.”

"Aren't our products always good? Those people want to ask us for bribes?" After all, Alex had no experience in this area and didn't quite understand why Bart wanted to get involved in the election.

Angel also smiled. She now realized that Alex was still not so smart in some aspects. She explained: "Your father is saying that if the Carpenters want to go further, they must actively participate in politics. I Let me ask you, what is the purpose of the election?”

"Elect our new president?"

"This is just one of them. The purpose of elections is to bring people who represent our interests to power. Everyone has the right to vote, but the choices of the poor and the rich will definitely not be the same, and the people they elect are also different. UU Readingｗwｗ. uukanｓｕｕ．netｅ Then in order for your own people to come to power, you have to invest and make bets! Do you understand? "

Angel's words made Alex understand something. Who told him that he came from a country that had the right to vote but had never performed an election? In his previous life, he had never thought about what the election had to do with him. But in the United States, it is different. Here, everyone will pay close attention to the election process and results, because it is related to their vital interests in the next few years.

It is normal to provide campaign funds to your candidates. Of course, the government will also allocate a sum of money, but this amount of money is simply not enough. So candidates solicit sponsorship from voters, which is what everyone does. Whenever there is an election year, wealthy people at this time will be busy attending various gatherings to solicit sponsorship. At this time, candidates will try their best to explain their governing policies and win over most people in order to obtain campaign donations.

However, the people who sponsor campaign funds are not idle Lei Feng. They are willing to spend money because they want to support their agents to come to power. After such a bet is successful, the policy implemented by the agent will be tilted towards itself. For example, gun dealers will not donate to candidates who advocate for gun bans. Oil companies will not want to limit emissions, chemical companies will hate environmental policies, etc.

If the Carpenters do not participate in the election, then others will definitely not take care of the Carpenters after they come to power. It’s good if you don’t get in the way, but if you still want to get policy favoritism, that’s just a dream!

Regardless, Alex is still a little uncomfortable with this kind of political activity, and he knows that his parents are doing the right thing. However, he just couldn't help but want to solve the problem in his own way. He still wants to protect the Carpenter family by controlling public opinion.