The first half of 2013 was a period of great excitement in global stock markets. Graphene concept stocks experienced wave after wave of surges, and any company associated with graphene saw its stock price rise.
Under this influence, Goldman Sachs naturally reaped immense profits, while other financial institutions also made some gains. The entire situation was joyous, were it not for a slight unexpected event that occurred in the latter half of the year.
This unexpected event actually stemmed from a child and a tragedy.
In June 2013, a primary school in Oregon, USA, experienced a very serious shooting incident, which ultimately resulted in over ten deaths, and the perpetrator committed suicide at the scene.
Of course, this was no longer major news in the United States, as similar incidents occurred hundreds of times annually. It was hardly a big deal.
Initially, everyone expressed their condolences online, then went to the primary school to lay flowers, followed by a heated debate about gun control laws, and finally, the President would step forward, stating that such incidents would not be tolerated and decisive measures would be taken to prevent them.
Then it would end. Apart from the initial few severe shootings, subsequent cases were handled in almost the same manner.
It was like this last time, it was like this this time, and it would be like this next time.
No one expected that the perpetrator in this particular incident had a different story.
Initially, US media outlets very simply and crudely classified the perpetrator as mentally ill, attributing the act to a mental breakdown. However, soon after, netizens discovered a video uploaded by the perpetrator on a video-sharing website, lasting an hour and a half.
This video primarily featured the perpetrator speaking to the camera, explaining the reasons for his actions.
He said that he was originally a farmer who owned over 400 acres of land in Oregon.
Early in the year, an official from Oregon approached him, stating that wildfires in neighboring California were rampant and could spread to Oregon at any time. As his land bordered the mountains of California, they wished to purchase a portion of his land to construct a firebreak, specifically to prevent the California wildfires from reaching Oregon.
Initially, the farmer disagreed because the area the official wanted to buy was not large, totaling less than five acres.
The quantity was small, but the problem was that the land the official wanted was not a circular or square plot, but a long, strip-like piece of land, similar to a road. This strip of land, once purchased, would directly divide his farm in two.
If he wanted to drive around his own property, he would have to pass through someone else's land. Naturally, he was unwilling to sell it this way.
However, the official's attitude was very sincere, stating that this was for the welfare of all the people of Oregon and was a good deed. He explained that while it would divide his land, it would not have any impact, as normal passage by vehicle would still be possible.
This was because his own farm had been ravaged by wildfires spreading from California over a decade ago, resulting in heavy losses, as were his neighbors.
Therefore, the farmer ultimately decided to grit his teeth, overcome his difficulties, and sell this portion of land to the government.
Furthermore, because this land was for public benefit, the final land transfer price was only 40% of the market value, selling for less than $2,000.
This matter would have ended there, but what the farmer found peculiar was that although the land was purchased, there was no progress on the firebreak that had been mentioned.
The farmer initially attributed it to policy changes. It wasn't until later, when he suddenly noticed a survey team on the purchased land, taking various measurements, that he became suspicious.
Curiously, the farmer approached them and asked if they were planning to build the firebreak. The surveyors, to his surprise, retorted, "Don't you know they are building a vacuum high-speed rail line here?"
This news completely stunned the farmer. How could the land intended for fire prevention suddenly be used for a vacuum high-speed rail line?
He immediately began searching for relevant information and discovered that the US vacuum high-speed rail line indeed started in Oregon and traversed the entire country, and his land was the necessary passage from Oregon to California.
This was because his land was the only flat area in a valley. If the pipeline train did not pass through here, it would have to detour over a hundred kilometers, or a tunnel would have to be bored through the adjacent mountain range, neither of which seemed cost-effective.
Even more disheartening for the farmer was his discovery of an acquisition agreement signed between the US Pacific United High-Speed Rail Development Company and an Oregon-based company. For the purchase of less than 4 acres of land, a staggering $200,000 was paid.
The reason given was that this land would traverse the company's farm, and the noise and vibration from the vacuum high-speed rail could damage the animals on the farm, thus requiring advance payment of compensation for damages. Consequently, land originally worth only a few thousand dollars was sold for a sky-high price of $200,000.
Upon seeing this information, the farmer's sense of fairness was immediately disrupted.
His was also a farm, and wouldn't the animals on his farm be harmed by the vibrations and noise of the vacuum high-speed rail?
If 4 acres of land sold for $200,000, then asking for $200,000 for his 5 acres of land was quite reasonable.
Yet, in the end, he only received less than $2,000.
In the video, the farmer stated that upon realizing this, he was utterly furious.
It wasn't that he was angry about losing $200,000; rather, he felt that he had been immensely deceived.
If the person who came to buy his land three years prior had directly stated it was for the construction of a vacuum high-speed rail line, or if they had simply said they wanted to buy land without specifying the reason, then he would have sold it at a low price without any resentment, as it would have been a fair transaction.
But at that time, the other party had repeatedly claimed it was for building a firebreak, and now it turned out to be for a vacuum high-speed rail line. Wasn't this blatant fraud?
Most importantly, the person involved was from the government. Did this mean the government was snatching food from the people's bowls for petty gains?
In his anger, the farmer approached the government, demanding that the land transaction be voided and his land be returned to him.
However, an official from the Oregon state government arrogantly informed him that the land was not purchased by the government but by a private company. The entity to which he had signed the contract was also this private company, and he should not be looking to the government but to the company that bought his land.
This confused the farmer even further. He returned home and urgently reviewed the contract, discovering that it was signed under the name "Oregon Forest Fire Prevention Strategy Response Bureau."
When he first saw this name, he assumed it was a government agency in Oregon. However, when he searched for this name online, he found that it was indeed a private company.
As for why it was named as such, it was simply because Oregon law did not prohibit a private company from adopting a name like "Oregon Forest Fire Prevention Strategy Movement Bureau." Therefore, his land had indeed been sold to a private company, with no connection whatsoever to the Oregon state government.
However, this discovery did not quell the farmer's anger; instead, it fueled it. He realized that this was a premeditated act of fraud, a conspiracy between Oregon and certain private companies to defraud him.
This was because he clearly remembered that the person who negotiated with him at the time had presented complete government credentials.
Furthermore, he wasn't foolish. Fearing impersonation, he had requested to inspect relevant fire prevention documents at the Oregon Forest Department, and the entire contract had been signed at an Oregon government unit. Now, they were telling him it was purchased by a private company!
From this, the farmer drew a conclusion that was not difficult to reach.
That is, these private companies had already obtained the route plan for the vacuum high-speed rail line. They knew three years ago that the route would pass through his land, but they also knew that he would not easily sell his land.
Therefore, they colluded, using the moral high ground of public welfare and forest fire prevention to coerce him, ultimately leading him to agree to sell the land at a low price.
Subsequently, in defense of his legal rights, the farmer embarked on repeated appeals and later filed lawsuits, but all efforts were in vain. The court eventually ruled that the land belonged to the Oregon Forest Fire Prevention Strategy Response Bureau, and he had to relinquish the land.
Furthermore, without the permission of the other party, he was prohibited from setting foot on the sold land for life.
This meant that if the farmer wanted to access his other piece of land, he would have to take a detour through someone else's property… or rather, because the entire strip of land had been gradually purchased by others, the farmer would have to travel at least 140 kilometers to get around it.
Ultimately, unable to bear the pain and humiliation, the farmer learned that the child of the government official who had deceived him was attending a kindergarten. He then stormed in fully armed and uploaded this explanatory video online.
He intended to use his blood to let the world know of his immense grievance.
As it turned out, this strategy was very successful. His name and story were about to shake the entire United States.