Darkstone Code
Chapter 144 - 0143 Two Big Troubles

Chapter 144: 0143 Two Big Troubles

"The first trouble is that I plan to do import and export business, but I don’t have the import and export quotas in hand..."

In light of the Conservative Party’s isolation policy and their fear during wartime, they believe that exporting goods to a country at war or importing goods from a country at war would inadvertently drag themselves into the conflict.

At the start of the world war, this idea was actually shared by the vast majority of people in Bail Federal, including within the Federation Progressive Party, where they could not reach a consensus on this issue, resulting in the Conservatives winning the election without much difficulty.

It is precisely this isolation policy that, even today, after a complete ceasefire in the world war, international trade for the Federation has not revived, with only limited and unavoidable trades occurring.

For example, exchanging some goods with other countries for materials that the Federation cannot produce or lacks locally, besides this unavoidable foreign trade policy, ordinary individuals or companies find it challenging to conduct large-scale international trade.

And here we must mention a special office within the Conservative Party President’s Cabinet government—the International Trade Approval Office, which belongs to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but also has overlapping management from the Ministry of Defense, showing how vigilant the domestic stance on foreign trade is currently.

Every year, what goods can be exported and what can be imported are decided by this office.

Individuals like Lynch who want to live off export business should basically not consider it in a short time, as it’s not possible; he doesn’t even have a chance to try.

The mayor’s forehead slowly tightened and then clenched, giving him an expression of unintentional authority, with two eyebrows looking upward, conveying a sense of commanding respect.

In fact, this feeling most of the time stems from his title, His Honor the Mayor.

If the person with the furrowed brow were a homeless man, perhaps he would be met not with reverential gazes but with shouts of obscenities and possibly a shoe sole smeared with thick phlegm.

"I need to inquire about it, but hope is slim, at least in the short term if the international affairs policy doesn’t change, chances are low."

He quickly gave the verdict; in fact, until now, many people have expressed the desire to engage in international trade, but since the world war recently ended, nobody knows whether an accidental border dispute might reignite global conflict.

So, we need to observe for a period, but His Honor the Mayor didn’t speak truthfully; the upper echelons of the Progressive Party have already determined that the world war has effectively come to an end.

It’s not that everyone has become more civilized; it’s that most warring nations have fought themselves into exhaustion, incapable of continuing the fight unless they truly wish to face national ruin.

Considering the current world situation, warfare essentially tests a nation’s overall strength; once exhausted, countries can’t even manufacture bullets, so what’s the point of continuing?

However, the Conservative Party, which has reaped certain gains through the isolation policy, doesn’t think this way. Or perhaps they also agree with the Progressive Party’s viewpoint, but due to the peace the isolation policy brings the Federation and the political dividends it offers, they are not willing to abandon this policy yet, until its impact fully translates into political potential, so it needs to continue for a while.

Internally, things have actually started loosening, but this change won’t be disclosed to ordinary people. Despite the fact that the Conservative Party President spends all day on TV criticizing some "fallacies" of the Progressive Party, and the leader of the Progressive Party also calls the Conservative Party President a pig on TV, the two parties still have some consensus on a certain level.

Oh, I forgot, there’s also the Federal Socialist Party, but it doesn’t matter; they’re already accustomed to being forgotten by the public, so much so that sometimes newspapers only mention "two parties" instead of "three parties."

If His Honor the Mayor truly wanted to accomplish this matter, it’s not necessarily impossible; it’s just that using his personal relationships to handle it for Lynch won’t bring much reward, and he doesn’t view it as a suitable choice.

Sometimes, politics is quite a headache, but other times it’s simple, simple to the point it’s just a matter of scale.

Lynch wasn’t too surprised by this outcome; he continued to graciously slice his steak, speaking in a casual tone, "If I could obtain free trade rights, I can resolve the employment issues left by the Ristone Group’s departure."

He placed a juicy piece of steak into his mouth, and as his lips and teeth closed in chewing, the juices splattered, making the sensation superb, "Maybe even more, we can push down the unemployment rate, and I believe, especially in the current situation, people are more willing to work, don’t you think?"

No need to ask, if there’s a suitable... or even not so suitable job that pays, everyone is willing to work, even if it’s a bit tiresome and dirty; they don’t mind.

Having work means having income, thus maintaining their livelihood; without income, wealth accumulated over decades or even generations could vanish in an instant.

It’s cruel, but mercy doesn’t save the world.

"Is the profit from import-export business that substantial?" The mayor was somewhat shocked; if import-export trade could bring about such significant profits, perhaps this would become an essential policy for the Progressive Party to swiftly defeat the Conservative Party, simply implementing an open policy, which seems too easy.

Lynch chuckled, his smile concealed something unsettling for the mayor. The young man, with greased-back hair sculpting a mature appearance at just twenty years old, bore a smile reminiscent of influential politicians and major capitalists the mayor had seen before, a contemptuous smile that seemed to penetrate human hearts and the world.

Yet previously these smiles belonged only to older individuals; now it appeared on someone young enough to be his son.

Lynch set down his knife and fork, dabbing his mouth with a napkin. The smile on his face hadn’t disappeared from the beginning until now; it grew increasingly evident.

He placed his hands on the two corners of the table, slightly leaning back, stretching his upper body, giving off an unexpectedly imposing sense of pressure to the mayor, despite being similar in height and slightly taller.

"This relates to the second trouble I’m facing. Are you interested in hearing it?"

In silence, the mayor set down his knife and fork; he reached out to grab the wine glass for a sip to ease the inexplicable tension but withdrew his hand upon seeing the blood-red liquid, nodding, "Perhaps I’ll be interested."

"I plan to change the current employment methodology, no longer assuming the standards like minimum work hours, instead shifting employment to cooperation..." Lynch’s words prompted the mayor’s brows to knit tightly together once more.

The enactment of the "Minimum Wage Law" has been around for years now, annually adjusted according to prevailing price levels and publicly announced to all sectors. All employers, factory owners, basically anyone hiring others, must comply with this law.

Each worker’s weekly work time can’t be less than sixty hours but also shouldn’t exceed seventy-two hours.

If a factory or workplace schedules work hours below sixty, they must pay wages according to the employment contract’s hourly rate for effective work hours, with other times compensated as per minimum wage law rates.

Meaning if a factory hires a worker and doesn’t engage them, every month they must still pay wages as per the minimum wage law.

If it exceeds seventy-two hours, salaries are paid at overtime hourly rates, with Bail Federal’s current minimum standard being 120% of regular hourly wages, this being the absolute minimum.

Overall, this greatly safeguards the legitimate rights of workers. When this law was passed through Congress, the entire working class and the middle to lower strata jubilantly celebrated, with some even bringing newspapers to confront their factory owners and employers, reading the contents aloud to these vile capitalists.

People say that this law protects the working class, but in truth, it protects capitalists too, though that’s another matter.

Since its establishment, many have demonstrated through massive fines and bankruptcies that it’s an untouchable bottom line. In Bail Federal’s judiciary system, there is a guiding principle known as "punitive sentencing/punishment standard," which serves as a guideline.

When the court believes it necessary to impose a severe punishment on someone to make both them and society realize certain mistakes can’t be repeated, they employ this standard—a penalty that originally might only warrant a fine of a thousand dollars could escalate to a hundred thousand.

For instance, a preliminary sentence of one year might suddenly escalate to five years, ten years, and the purpose is to penalize, setting an example.

Lynch’s statement made the mayor somewhat nervous; a misstep could trigger a series of events—workers’ marching protests escalating to gatherings of demonstrations, potentially culminating in riots.

We must realize that although these people from the social bottom rungs may indeed appear pitiful, they more often do infuriating things, such as attributing their misfortune to societal inequity and others’ unfriendliness, refusing to examine themselves.

Lynch might evoke this characteristic within them, leading them to believe their unemployment stems from capitalist, and perhaps politician, neglect or even persecution, resulting in yet another upheaval.

Before Lynch finished speaking, the mayor interrupted him, "Your idea is very dangerous, Lynch; a single mistake here could lead to disaster. By then, even if I wanted to lend a hand, I couldn’t move you."

"Some things you can touch, they will forgive you even if it fails, because you are young."

"But some things you cannot touch, regardless of your youth or intentions; once you touch them, you’ll become a sinner!"

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.