Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 576 - 573: The Derailed Train of Civilization

Chapter 576: Chapter 573: The Derailed Train of Civilization

In the first two elections, both sides were relatively harmonious because their own shelters were still under construction. At such a time, excessive competition would only alienate the public.

But this time was different; building additional shelters wouldn’t affect one’s own survival nor would it bring much profit. The main purpose was to achieve a sense of psychological satisfaction.

The public, feeling morally indebted to their home base, was willing to do things they thought could make amends.

The Democracy Promotion Association seized on this psychological conflict. These politicians believed that just having the plan on paper was enough, even if it was just talk. Claiming to be more capable than another party was still beneficial.

Whether the project would be postponed wasn’t too important because there was still plenty of time!

The six-hour workday proposed by the Democracy Promotion Association was also meticulously calculated.

Since the main shelters had been completed over the past ten years, people no longer felt survival pressure. So the upcoming tasks—joyful learning, joyful scientific research, and then building data receivers for after the neutron star collision, etc.—

were not urgent. There was still plenty of time. A six-hour workday was enough! It wouldn’t affect anything!

On the other hand, what was more important was that the Industrial Union Party had been in power for ten years. The power of discourse is very important; competition between the two parties had always existed, and the Democracy Promotion Association was losing more and more seats in the council.

If a party that had been in the opposition for a long time couldn’t come into power, it would inevitably become marginalized. Then, the so-called multiparty system would turn into a one-party system, which they did not want to see.

"The release of this plan quickly sparked a huge uproar among the public."

"Some supported it, others opposed it."

Educational expert Lin Yingdong, for instance, raised significant objections.

He believed that the original eight-hour workday was in line with human nature. Rashly reducing working hours would have an impact on social ethos.

Humans have worked from sunrise to sunset since ancient times; why should humans in this era only work for six hours?

Those countries that once had a six-hour workday were quite slack, nowhere near as productive as those with eight-hour workdays.

Moreover, work is a process of realizing one’s social value. A person who doesn’t work is nothing but a waste, even if a six-hour workday seems more free than an eight-hour one. Using data from the elite is neither objective nor reliable, considering that many of the public are not elites.

In short, there were many who opposed.

However, such debates didn’t do much good. People said one thing with their mouths but were honest with their actions.

After the tumultuous election, the Democracy Promotion Association came to power, the ruling party changed, and the related plan was passed.

...

And so, five years quickly passed again...

The Democracy Promotion Association could only fulfill its promise, laboriously constructing an even more luxurious additional shelter.

But they realized that five years was far too short for interstellar civilization so much so that no significant project could be completed in that time.

This extra large luxury shelter, meant to accommodate forty million people’s living needs, was less than one-third complete... Not because they were negligent, but because there simply wasn’t enough time. With a six-hour workday and only five years, how could it possibly be enough?

Therefore, the Democracy Promotion Association wanted to amend the constitution to extend the term limits of political parties to match the normal project timelines of interstellar civilization.

This was actually a very normal thing to consider.

Resultantly, this proposal faced fierce criticism from the opposition!

"Why should you be allowed to amend the constitution while in power? Why wasn’t it when I was in power so that I could amend the constitution?"

"All the benefits go to you; the shelter isn’t completed... It’s because you are incompetent!"

Indeed, the Democracy Promotion Association had not fulfilled its promise and hadn’t finished building the additional shelter, nor had the people communicated with their compatriots outside of 1 light year away...

The public naturally wasn’t too pleased.

In fact, the Democracy Promotion Association shouldn’t be blamed for this, but the majority of the public didn’t think so. Since you didn’t fulfill your promises during your term, you should step down.

The intense competition between parties once again began, and every election would stir up turmoil in the entire society, with you criticizing me and me judging you. Both sides had to find ways to smear each other as much as possible, and then appease the public to gain votes.

And controlling the media became a crucial part of this process.

The media started to lose its objectivity and became biased.

And humans themselves are biased. In the onslaught of information on the internet, they would select the information they agree with, ignore the information they don’t, and then complete the entire process of self-brainwashing.

"This is how Light Green slowly became Deep Green, and a minority of Light Blue began to switch to Deep Blue."

When election time came, the Industrial Union Party, imitating precedent, threw out a "lower the retirement age" proposal, igniting a huge societal impact!

Don’t talk about anything else, early retirement!

In this era, without the need for developing major projects, only a very small workforce was required to keep people comfortable.

So... what’s wrong with retiring early?

Among the people who followed the Radiant Galaxy here, there was a significant aging population. Over 60% of the people were middle-aged or elderly, who had spent half their lives striving for the Planet Engine project. Of course, they welcomed this proposal.

Early retirement, of course, is a good thing!

Thus, with so many factors at play, the Industrial Union Party was back in power...

...

Party strife!

This very ancient term is not common in New Human Civilization, but it’s all too common in Earth Civilization... so common that humans know its harms, yet are helpless against it.

Power is a poison that corrodes the heart. Now, it’s making a comeback, seizing the throat of a branch of humanity in the name of "freedom."

The whole story isn’t complicated, yet is quite theatrical, like a silent yet amusing pantomime. It looks sad from the outside, but those on the inside are oblivious and joyful.

The young Rulers enjoyed the thrill of power and weren’t willing to step down, beginning to try to please the public for more votes.

But they were unaware of the immense risks that come with civilization’s train derailing.

...

"At this point, many intelligent scholars had started to feel that something was off. In the endless cycle of partisan strife, the moral baseline of humanity would lower and lower! Various chaotic media relentlessly smeared the other side, exposing every bit of the opposing leaders’ privacy, turning them into the public’s entertainment."

"And humans have their stances. In the endless brainwashing by the media, there will always be a strong bias."

"There are no enemies in this world, no competition, no survival pressure. How can one avoid degeneration in such an infinitely blissful environment? There must be a strong government to guide the spiritual construction of civilization! But now, there’s none, absolutely none!"

"The so-called democracy is inevitably influenced by public opinion, so the parties that pander more to the will of the people have a higher chance of becoming the Ruling party. Led by public opinion, where is there room for spiritual construction?"

Mr. Lin Yingdong, who had returned to New Human Civilization, described the past memories on the stage of the Scientific Council and suddenly found all of this absurdly laughable.

The entire incident sounded bizarre and ludicrous, yet it happened in reality.

Bitterly, he said, "But once a train has started, how could it possibly stop with the strength of just a few people?"

Accompanying Lin Yingdong were more than 60,000 ordinary citizens. They had been arranged their own homes, and they would have no major issues integrating into the nearly 50 million strong New Human Civilization. People were also willing to accept these surviving refugees, who, having endured such calamities, should cherish their current lives even more.