In 2009, the world suddenly became full of hope. After the economic plunge of 2008, as the Americans began executing their six-trillion-dollar plan, the global economy truly started to improve, even welcoming a boom. The US stock market surprisingly returned to its highest point in March 2009, recovering all the economic losses from 2008. The market was in full bloom, which in turn led to a surge in the approval ratings of the new president who introduced this rescue plan. At one point, his approval rating even surpassed Roosevelt's, making him the president with the highest approval rating in American history.
Well, this isn't too difficult. After all, Roosevelt controlled the US government too tightly, and his power could even crush conglomerates. Therefore, conglomerates didn't like Roosevelt, and his support had a ceiling. Unlike our new president, who received the support of the vast majority and enjoyed immense fame!
However, some people were still unhappy, such as Dr. Cooper. His expression was very unpleasant because the person sitting opposite him was his most disliked person, Professor Parkinson.
One a doctor, the other a professor; judging by their titles, they were definitely a pair destined for love-hate.
"My dear Professor, neither I nor the board of directors truly understand why you harbor such immense prejudice against Jiangnan Group?"
"Of course, having prejudice isn't a problem. We all want to acquire Jiangnan Group. But you've consistently opposed the rescue plan. Even though the rescue plan has achieved astonishing success, you're still trying to obstruct it."
"It's not just your peers who are dissatisfied with you anymore; even within the board of directors, your actions are met with confusion. Can't you abandon your stance? Or give the board a convincing reason!" Professor Parkinson said with a seemingly sincere expression, but Dr. Cooper knew that this guy was full of foulness beneath his words.
"I've stated the reason countless times: this rescue plan will ruin the future of the entire United States!" Despite his inner displeasure, Dr. Cooper could only helplessly re-explain.
Naturally, Dr. Cooper wouldn't want to explain based on his personality, but he understood he wasn't explaining to Dr. Parkinson, but to the board. Therefore, he organized his language as best as possible. "This rescue plan, though it appears good and its execution seems to yield immediate results, carries far more hidden dangers. It almost severs our future."
"Let's not even mention other things. Just the fact that all subsidy funds must be collected through the Western Mustang Wallet is extremely hateful. This means that all Americans, unless they don't want the three hundred dollars falling from the sky, must apply for and establish a Western Mustang Wallet account. Moreover, because all subsidy payments can only be made through the wallet account, they will have to use this wallet account at all times every month. After a year, it's likely that all Americans will develop the habit of using the Western Mustang Wallet. The convenience of online payments far surpasses cash payments. When these people get used to online payments, they will likely shift more of their daily transactions to online usage."
"Years from now, the Western Mustang Wallet will directly control the cash flow of all Americans, and they will have a clear understanding of the flow of funds for all Americans. They will be able to control the entire American economy. Entrusting the lifeline of the entire nation into the hands of foreigners, isn't that terrifying enough?" Dr. Cooper asked through gritted teeth.
"Yes, what you've said is very reasonable. I think so too!" Professor Parkinson nodded very sincerely after listening, which somewhat surprised Dr. Cooper. He had expected Parkinson to refute him on the spot, after all, that presidential position should have been his inheritance. His father was the previous president, and his great-grandfather was the founder of Goldman Sachs. He was the rightful successor.
However, Dr. Cooper's formidable tactics had forcefully snatched the position of successor from Professor Parkinson, forcing the latter to genuinely become a professor at a university. The two had a deep-seated animosity. To his surprise, Parkinson showed no intention of refuting him, instead maintaining a posture of careful listening and saying, "Please continue. There must be other reasons!"
"Of course!" Although Dr. Cooper felt a bit puzzled, he felt compelled to speak. Thus, he continued, "The second issue is even more fatal: the allocation and usage plan of these sixty trillion dollars is riddled with traps!"
"Increasing nearly nine hundred billion dollars for weapons procurement, what are they trying to achieve? Do they want more people to fear us, the United States? And will these purchased weapons just sit idle? Obviously, they will be used, and they will be used for war."
"That's right, this plan has even arranged for the Syrian War, the best venue for weapons consumption. They've even pre-arranged a war for us. But have we forgotten how much blood we've lost in the two wars since the beginning of the 21st century? And now they want to start a third war, which is equivalent to directly bleeding us dry!"
"Also, look at the specific uses of these nearly nine hundred billion dollars in military spending. They are all allocated to impractical weapons systems, those sci-fi weapons!" Dr. Cooper's voice grew louder as he spoke, "The first one is this trash, the Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer."
"Doctor, you have too high standards. The 'Zumwalt' class guided-missile destroyer is trash in your eyes? What good ships are there in this world then? Do you want to create an aerospace carrier?" Professor Parkinson chuckled.
"No, I don't want any aerospace carrier. I just want a simple, nuclear-powered destroyer with an enormous tonnage and countless nation-destroying missiles. We just need to enlarge the performance and scale of existing destroyers, not this 'Zumwalt' class guided-missile destroyer that has been repeatedly delayed and remains a myth," Dr. Cooper said in one breath.
"And there are other inexplicable weapons and equipment on this list, such as the BAT smart anti-armor projectile. It involves embedding a smart chip in each bullet, along with a host of intelligent devices, allowing these bullets to automatically search for enemy armored vehicles and find the weakest point to penetrate."
"I admit that such bullets sound formidable, but the problem is that each bullet equipped with these smart devices costs a million dollars. A regular armor-piercing projectile costs only five thousand dollars. So, why wouldn't I use this money to build two hundred armor-piercing rounds and fire them all at once? Surely one will hit!"
"Or, if I add some more money, I can directly build guided missiles, aren't they more accurate? Why would I use such expensive bullets on a high-speed weapon? How many of these can our budget afford?"
"Even more ridiculous is that this project has already spent 2.2 billion dollars in research and development expenses, but it's still not successfully developed. Now they plan to invest another 1 billion dollars. It's insane!"
"And this Future Combat Systems, the lightweight armored vehicles that can be rapidly deployed anywhere in the world. So far, it has cost nearly 20 billion dollars. Not only has it not been developed, but even if it were, it would still need to be deployed by the air force worldwide, making its targets obvious, wouldn't they?"
"As for the new generation main battle vehicle, the GC V, which has already cost over 10 billion dollars and weighs over 60 tons, I won't even mention it. It's completely nonsensical!"
Dr. Cooper spoke incessantly, pointing out over twenty new high-tech weapons on the list, all of which were futuristic-sounding new equipment. For example, the individual exoskeleton mechanical armor support system, which resembled mechs, and the satellite furnace that could instantly destroy all enemy satellites, were all fiercely criticized by Dr. Cooper.
"And this super-giant humanoid combat mecha project... Don't think I don't watch animations from Fusang and know what those so-called mechs are. This kind of thing actually receives 3 billion dollars in funding... Look at these giant mechs, which cost billions of dollars to build just one, how easily they can be taken down by a single missile."
"These are the calculations of the Jiangnan Group behind that president. They intend to steer our military technology towards weapons that are impossible to break through in the short term, or even if breakthroughs are achieved, they will be useless garbage. While it seems we will possess so many new weapons, it will actually cause a gap in our weaponry in the future, leading to our defeat by those newly emerging competitors!"
"Did you write down everything I said?" Dr. Cooper asked Professor Parkinson after taking a sip of coke.
"Every word!" Professor Parkinson nodded and pointed to a device on the table. "I'm recording the entire conversation! These are the board's requirements. They won't just listen to my one-sided account!"
"Good!" Dr. Cooper nodded, took a deep breath, and continued, "What I'm about to say next is what I consider the most evil and terrifying aspect of these plans: to completely destroy our American industrial capacity!"
"Destroy our industrial manufacturing capabilities? That's impossible!" Professor Parkinson couldn't help but ask in surprise, "The plan allocates a total of two trillion dollars specifically for the physical industry. Shouldn't this help our manufacturing sector develop further? How could it possibly lead to the ruin of our manufacturing industry?"