Darkstone Code
Chapter 280 - 0278 The Difficult Era

Chapter 280: 0278 The Difficult Era

Lynch filled with goodwill, a small factual joke prepared both of them for the conversation ahead. At this point, they had already walked out of City Hall, walked into the parking lot, and sat inside Ferrari’s car.

In this cramped, enclosed space, there seemed to be more sense of security provided. Ferrari slightly rolled down some of the windows and lit a cigarette, "Recently, the Workers’ Union is preparing for a new round of protests, do you know?"

Lynch shook his head. He had only been back a few days and had no inclination to concern himself with the situation on the workers’ side. Moreover, he didn’t have any friends in the Workers’ Union community and wasn’t interested, so he naturally didn’t know the Union was causing a stir again.

The Workers’ Union’s agitation is mostly due to the fact that life is too hard now. A scary situation envelops all of Sabin City due to a staggering twenty percent unemployment rate.

People walk weakly on the streets, and some tall men have become so thin they are nothing but skin and bones. They need to sit down to rest after taking a few steps because their depleted energy makes even walking a burden.

Currently, the public security in Sabin City is quite good. The veterans have filled the vacancies left by the police strikes at the Police Station. They are much stronger in execution than the ordinary recruits in the Police Station and much tougher in attitude.

Most of the former police officers were already familiar with the notable people on the streets. From certain perspectives, they did this to better crack cases when they occurred. However, problems such as leaking information or personal relationships also existed.

But now none of these issues exist. The police cleared the streets in an unprecedented manner, leaving people on the streets with no choice but to shrink back into their houses, while the rest don’t have the strength to commit crimes anymore, improving public security substantially.

But these changes cannot alter one fact: people have no jobs, and work is more important than anything else during these times.

Even some newspapers reported shocking news, such as a teenage girl sleeping with a fifty-year-old chef just for a waitress job.

Or cases where two generations of women in a family were simultaneously arrested for illegal solicitation. The Judge, society, and public opinion pursued them relentlessly, leading to the mother and daughter choosing to commit suicide together.

Too many events combined show the difficulty in achieving genuine societal stability without jobs. The Workers’ Union’s goal in this protest is just that. They want City Hall to provide some job opportunities to prevent some extremely difficult families from resorting to crime.

From a moral and ethical standpoint, such demands are normal, even admirable, but the way they express their demands is displeasing, causing headaches for the Mayor.

"The Mayor told me you’ve come up with a new employment method to get others to work for you..."

Before Ferrari could finish, Lynch interrupted him, "No, not employment, I must correct your and the Mayor’s misunderstanding in this regard. We are cooperating!"

Lynch patiently explained to Ferrari his cooperation model with these people, emphasizing that they are not his workers. These family-based workshops are themselves micro-enterprises, while Lynch is another enterprise.

He places orders with these micro-enterprises; they are in a cooperative relationship, never an employment relationship!

"...So, this is not employment, nor do I need to guarantee their working hours, income, or various social security. Do you understand what I mean?"

Ferrari’s expression was somewhat peculiar. What he heard from the Mayor was not very complete, but the Mayor’s tone was not good, almost as if... he thought Lynch was not a trustworthy person.

Originally, Ferrari found it somewhat strange, but now he had the same thought, Lynch is truly not a good person.

When people discuss the ruthlessness and cruelty of capitalists, they often mention certain laws, such as the "Minimum Wage Law," "Labor Protection Law," and so on. These laws protect workers from arbitrary exploitation and oppression by capitalists.

No matter how the capitalists wish to treat these workers, they must operate within the rules and regulations, practicing their ugly and despicable exploitation and oppression.

However, Lynch suddenly jumped out of this framework, and Ferrari didn’t know whether to call him a genius or a bastard. Ferrari believes capitalists across the Federation would love Lynch’s new idea, as it could save them a significant amount of money.

At the same time, Ferrari himself had some concerns, once capitalists start using this method, it will mean a large number of workers losing various guarantees, possibly even struggling to pay social security.

Ferrari raised some questions, and Lynch patiently explained that to get people to start accepting this thing, they must first understand that this is actually not exploitation.

The so-called "piecework method" is essentially a process through which ordinary people and families create and realize their own value. If they are willing to work hard, they can earn much more than they did in factories before.

But if they are not willing to create and realize their own value, choose to be lazy, or do nothing, then they will get nothing.

"Society is not a nurturing pouch. This may be cruel, but here exists a fairness that other places cannot provide, a true fairness."

"What you contribute is what you get. If this isn’t considered fairness, it’s hard for me to believe there’s anything else in this world that can be called fairness!"

"Moreover, my friend, whether any system or method will truly persist, society’s reaction will provide the answer. The suitable ones will continue to exist, while the unsuitable ones will quickly disappear."

"None of us know whether my method will work, whether it suits the social and era’s development. This needs verification, but I feel it’s a good method!"

Ferrari smoked several cigarettes in a row; he couldn’t find any arguments to counter Lynch’s fallacy and ultimately could only smile bitterly and sigh, "I find myself convinced by you!"

Lynch followed up with, "The more you debate, the clearer the reasoning becomes (the conclusions proven through repetition are the most instructive)!"

"You always have some unique words..." Ferrari mused for a moment, "The Mayor means if you can convince those in the Workers’ Union to adopt your approach, maybe you should talk to them first!"

This sentence suggests the Mayor has made a compromise on this matter of principle. Actually, he had no choice but to compromise. Among those of working age who are willing to work, one in five is unemployed—what does that signify?

Out of the 800,000 population of Sabin City, approximately 150,000 people are suitable for work and also willing, but now 30,000 are unemployed.

These 30,000 affect around 100,000 families, impacting the lives of 200,000 to 300,000 people. This statistic is already frightening; if the unemployment rate continues to rise or stays at this number, it’s likely that Sabin City’s City Hall will announce dissolution, then have people re-elect, or simply achieve autonomy until eventually canceling the city.

The unemployment rate in Sabin City is significantly higher than elsewhere, mainly because the Ristone Group collapsed. The Mayor initially thought that finding the issue and keeping them would prevent more people from becoming unemployed.

But the worse the problem, the more troublesome it becomes; even if the Ristone Group stayed, they couldn’t operate.

After years of falsified financial reports, they were actually losing money annually. Even if the Mayor and Governor didn’t interfere, they wouldn’t last much longer and would eventually have to go bankrupt and shut down.

Now the Mayor is pushed to the brink and recalls Lynch’s earlier proposal.

Lynch perked up, "When do I talk to them?"

"The night after tomorrow; there’s a big protest during the day. After the protest ends, you can talk, and you can choose the location. However, the Union hopes the location is in the Workers’ Union office building."

Upon hearing this, Lynch chuckled softly, nodding lightly. He sensed some other meaning from Ferrari’s words.

Clearly, he could directly discuss this matter with the Workers’ Union to prevent the protest, but the Mayor didn’t show any intention of advance intervention. The Union even hopes the negotiation location can be in their office building, adding a strange flavor to the entire affair—a taste that is distinctly political.

The Mayor wants to demonstrate his ability and influence; once the protest breaks out, he can suppress it, showcasing his competence.

As for the protest?

Come on, this is the Free Federation, where protesting and assembling are freedoms granted by the Constitution. They can even spontaneously start protests without notifying the social services bureau, and the police and other institutions can’t disperse them; they even have to help maintain order because this reflects the precious spirit of freedom in the Free Federation.

These bastards would hold a protest for trivial reasons, like protesting on weekends because capitalists didn’t include beef in their lunch. Now the situation is so dire, with protests happening nationwide; no one will blame Sabin City for breaking out in this protest.

As for the Workers’ Union, those who don’t see themselves as workers and are worker representatives, they also want to show their influence.

Once the protest starts, City Hall immediately arranges people to solve the issue, which only indicates that the local Workers’ Union has done exceptionally well in terms of cohesion and influence. At that time, the local Union leader could potentially be rewarded by the Union’s higher-ups or even promoted to the Socialist Party, becoming a minor politician!

Compromise?

No, it should be collusion.

After sensing a certain disdainful attitude from Lynch’s expression, Ferrari laughed dryly a few times, "Is there a problem?"

"Problem?" Lynch snapped back to reality and shook his head, "Of course, there’s no problem. I will convince these people!"

"That’s good; although the Mayor didn’t explicitly express it, I can tell he values this matter greatly!"

After the two parted, Lynch returned home. After being away for several days, the place remained clean; the maid would come to clean at any time, ensuring the environment was spotless.

Her work attitude had become more focused, meticulous, and cheerful than before; her skirt got shorter, and the neckline became larger and lower. Of course, all this was to keep her job!

In this era, in this environment, life isn’t easy for anyone!