It must be said that in terms of humanity, humanity has moved forward somewhat in a couple of centuries. Do you know which period of the five recent centuries is the most disgusting? The nineteenth century. With these half-educated scientists of his, who imagined that all the secrets and mysteries of nature have either been revealed or are about to be revealed. That a person can be revived by inserting electrodes into a corpse, the sun burns thanks to a chemical reaction that these idiots have managed to study, and all that sort of thing. Everything has been studied and everything is clear and can fit into their moldy little books. And everything is possible. Ah, I was not here then.
- So, let's continue about the Global Vanguard. This idea had previous versions. In its modern version, it sounds... You'll understand now. In general, even before the beginning of the Pre-War, at the end of the last century, it became clear that gathering all the production capacities that make up the high-tech top of the production potential in one region, if possible, was quite problematic, especially in the face of the threat of an impending confrontation. Even then, they understood that it could turn out like with Silicon Valley at the beginning of the War. When the Assembler was formed during the war years, it was absolutely obvious that dragging its components into a separate region, to the same USA, was complete absurdity. Even if the threat from the Asian Bloc disappeared, the matter would have been too costly. Splitting all the states into high-tech and avant-garde and all the rest, more backward, already seemed impractical. Entire states, considered as advanced, are too large pieces, a more subtle division is needed. The idea suggested itself to form a kind of network within the existing states. The network is a supranational structure growing around the objects of the Assembler. Like tissue on bones.
It turned out that in such a simple execution this is also not an option. A state or a group of states can sooner or later arrange something like a demarche. Only if the Russian demarche slightly reduced the flow of forces to the front, then the new proposed demarche will break the unified production chains.
It has now become extremely desirable to see the unification of all national states under a single, clearly formalized beginning, a world government. A Western world government. To begin with, the unification will be based on confederative principles, but with an eye to further centralization.
- Is this possible?
- That's the point. You probably imagined such a global... Global Empire? Okay, a global state? This is not the way. The rabble will not agree to this, to a single state, now.
- You call them that? Ordinary people.
- What. Some of the important and big people can include me among them, among these simple people, that's normal, - Landskricht smiled.
- By the way, in a few words about who is rabble and who is not rabble. Some people benefit from the War, some don't. In the first months, the circle of those who benefited was much narrower than in the following years. However, it began to expand.
Remember, in your city, on the left bank, those contractor's workshops? Do you think he benefits from the War? Yes, he probably already fell in love with it, the War. But the residents of the slums would still be happy if a peace package was signed. The end of the War, post-war reconstruction, their cities in particular. Now they are, so to speak, below the waterline of this Titanic. The Titanic of all Western nations in their current form. The slum poor still don't benefit from the War. Here they are the rabble. The rest are above. The rest are not rabble. You will figure out for yourself who is above whom from the top. By the way, with the complete conversion of the War, in about fifteen years this rabble will also maintain its own well-being thanks to the entrenched confrontation. Something will be built for them, someone will settle down on their own with the money they earned from gluing drones and sharpening rifle barrels. In modern conditions, the line between the rabble and not the rabble is determined by the benefit or disadvantage from the War. Those who are sent to the front are also rabble. You probably see how everything is arranged now - those who live within the strict framework of what is prepared for them, study, finish their studies on time and work where they were sent, in general, with reasonable diligence, receive immunity from mobilization and conscription. At first, this concerned only specialists from high-tech sectors, but now it has reached ordinary workers. For now, the lower limit is those who grind out fourth- and fifth-grade crossbows on machines, but if things continue like this, these rules will apply to the purely civilian sector, even plumbers.
But if a person strays a little from this path... What path is there - it's walking a tightrope, and if you stagger a little, welcome to the orderly ranks and to the front. And you don't need to make a serious mistake, for example, by getting involved with crime or falling into alcoholism. It's enough to quit a job that you don't like, or want to change your specialty. And that's it! Your time is lost! You should have chosen what you need from the very beginning. Is that what it is now? Yes, that's how it is now.
Sports are all they can do. You drop out of the race and are immediately thrown into the trash. By the way, I can't stand sports. None at all.
True, careers are made at the front, too, but not everyone needs that. So, thanks to the dodgers, your Super-Federate has pumped up with new, often profitable, residents. You know that without me.
So, you, Western Humanity, have built the Titanic, where those at the top benefit from the War, and those at the bottom are toiling. Where is this vessel sailing? As was said, to a bright future, cities on the Moon and all that.
How can we stitch all these nations together into a single whole, into a single community-state called upon to support the Assembler, this engine of the Titanic?
Do we declare the creation of a single state with a single administrative system? No, then we soon get a civil war. Something happens, and everyone runs away in all directions. That's what your First Union did. The current Soviet-like monster, however, will not have its own West, which turned it off its path. The Asian world will not cope with this role. But how to relieve all these tensions that will arise on the basis of national differences, cultural and historical background? Is it possible?
A multi-republic comes to the rescue. Exactly in the form in which it is written about in your folder. Have you finished reading it, by the way?
- No, not to the end.
- Great. But you are supposedly the leader of all this.
- I'm not that stupid and I realized that my role was largely purely demonstrative.
- So I'll be stupid in a different way and won't read to the end, - why? - Landskricht quipped. - Okay, don't be angry. Your role, to put it correctly, is decorative. This is not a reproach to you, but to this whole idea with the flight and especially with the revolution.
A multi-republic is an improved solution to the problem that was fussed over at the beginning of the last century and then swept under the carpet. No one in the West questioned that democracy should be the basis of social foundations, but one problem emerged - what to do with the minority.
They started fussing about these minorities. First with political ones, then... well, you know. Then they, these minorities, were oppressed. They suffered for nothing. And there are also political minorities. And they will not disappear from the public arena. Unless you get carried away with political gendarmerie, but this is not modern and is fraught with undesirable contradictions. And here is a multi-republic, which allows several states to be located within one country. For example, here you have Great Britain with a king, here a republican, here a presidential Great Britain.
If you want, organize your own, but you need to gather enough people and go through all the procedures - not just anyone can do it. Nevertheless, this is as real as creating your own public organization. And everyone is happy - they live as if in their own countries.
There are no subjects for contradictions, it seems. I say "it seems", because, as always, something goes wrong, but it does not immediately become apparent. And so institutions like the police, army and basic medicine are common. The police will deal with everyone equally, no matter who is from which virtual state. True, some court decisions, mainly property and other non-criminal ones, may differ slightly. By the way, even now a number of states are united by a supranational judicial system. There is nothing special about this.
Without modern digital communication and artificial intelligence, such a multi-republican structure would lead to chaos. No bureaucracy would chew up so many papers. But now all people are tightly integrated into the digital field, so the idea works. So, the multi-republican structure will not be within one country, but within the entire confederation. This will allow key Assembler enterprises to peacefully coexist with slums.
At one time, high-tech enterprises also coexisted with slums, in the same nineteenth century, and in the twentieth, but now, with the current structure with the usual national governments, if this works, it will run into a number of problems. Not necessarily demarches, just critical social tension. Well, when the whole country is one dissatisfied slum near a plant... You have a control question, what will happen?
- Uprising, - answered Zavirdyaev.
- Most likely, this will turn into a demarche of the national government. An uprising is already a fantasy. In the general case, an uprising will be suppressed by the national government. But if the government does not suppress it, does not suppress it intentionally, then this will be its, the government's, demarche. Then the people, the rabble, will have no reason to speak out against the national government that has come to its senses. Right?
- Right, - Zavirdyaev answered sullenly, who was already very tired of long stories.
- Then the central government, let's say, the Bloc, will have to replace it, this national government. It will change and will receive a concerted rebuff. An entire rebel state. Or a rebel people. And what if several virtual countries with different interests were first shoved into this one country? Well, there will be no such rebuff, and the national government will have no need to declare a demarche, because not all virtual states will be driven to extremes, but only a part. Well, the central authorities of the Bloc will throw in a little money to support individual virtual societies and that's it. Everything continues to work. Great, right? And that's just one plus, one example, and there are more.
And purely externally, everything will look... A traveler from other worlds would be struck by the striking contrasts of the communities and industries neighboring side by side. Diverse communities and diverse industries. In this sense, the Super Federation is a kind of prototype - here you have neat terminals and sparkling "Amandas", and all these dashing militias and depressive slums exist in parallel with them. But if sooner or later people understand what a gift they were given and why, then something will go wrong with the multi-republican structure. And they will understand, even if not right away.
And so the Superfederant is a completely functional prototype - the same terminals and locals almost do not interact. And no one has the idea that terminals are something bad - they protect, they are needed. Some kind of interaction has still been preserved - the staff buys some things in the villages, drinks in local eateries. And everything can be even more separate, but this is not necessary and not always necessary. And if the Superfederant were finally recognized in New Kronstadt and they were allowed to arrange their representation in parliament, then the implementation of the multi-republican principles would be even more complete. To the two main groups - local and Blok's, a third would be added - all-Russian citizens who would get involved with their business in the superfederant filled with Europeanism. Oh, yes, European deviators are also a completely independent group.
- Is this another function of the Superfederant that you were talking about? To test the multistate? - No, that second function is much more practical than social experiments. I meant large-scale training of foreign corps units - they can then be sent to other countries, like Europe, to restore order. They have already been nicknamed "Order Commands". Lebedev has OMSDON for his own, internal needs, and this is the same OMSDON only for all of Europe. They will behave very freely, almost like the German soldiers who impressed you so much, or even cooler. And it seems there is no one to blame. National governments? No. Super-Federalist? It seems like it was not "Combat" or "Doc" who sent them. They pumped them up, and then these units were taken away from them. And everything can be staged so that they themselves left the place. On the orders of their field commanders. They left the place even contrary to the instructions of "Combat" or "Doc". And then who to blame? AEX and GBA? And try to prove to yourself that this was their directive. The only thing left to blame will be each thug individually and personally, well, their commander. Or even their own misbehavior. In general, there will be a disgruntled cry into the void and nothing more. This is the height of the organizers' skill. Clever, right?
This is how the entire Western World should look according to the plan - solid Super-Federates with a single army and police and, of course, a financial system. It seems like you can do whatever you want, but it seems like you can't do anything extra. Oh yeah, you can spank anyone on the ass with a financial rod as and when you please. I'm talking about transaction restrictions, blocking and freezing accounts. Notice how everyone is rushing to Siberia, and how few of those fleeing mobilizations are moving to neutral India or Iran. I can't say exactly who and how came up with this whole multi-republic as such, but it seems to have all come from observing computer players - in the last century there were plenty of parasites who were able to support their material existence, but completely immersed in the virtual space of some game.
Manipulating this virtual component of their lives gave them real power over them. Multi-republic states are also a kind of virtual space, only with a developed offline addition.
But all this in quotes holiday of life is only for people who provide for the needs of more valuable, thoroughbred, if you like, specialists - those involved in the work of the Assembler - all these engineers and high-class workers. They, realizing their role, will be somewhat separated from the rest of society ... the rest of the cattle, let's call it, as you are accustomed.
Previously, such high-class engineers and workers were called the labor aristocracy. Initially, it was assumed that such a privileged role would be occupied by entire nations, citizens of those states that would be in the "vanguard". Then they simply thought about it and decided that such equalization, when everyone is immediately elevated to such heights only by right of citizenship, is useless. Wasteful. And here you have a more differentiated approach. Rationality.
So, a superstate with a declared confederative structure and a multi-republic is assumed. In fact, it is centralized. And no one will twitch anywhere from this Titanic. Democracy is such that the last century did not even dream of it - if you want, make your own country, just get together, attract more or less influential people to yourself, they can be interested, and the job is done. Everything depends on your zeal. Individual talents break through to the stage. Without any rich uncles. And here the chances of success are comparable. Where are the Soviets, either first or second. And nevertheless, all people are only material and support for the implementation of a large project.
- So do you like this idea or are you against it? - asked Zavirdyaev.
- I'll live there, too, look what I have, or rather had, - she reached into her bag and pulled out a plastic card.
- On the card, stretched out longer than usual, there was a photograph and inscriptions. Zavirdyaev managed to make out the date 2037. In the upper left corner, on a gray background, written in white... "Nazi star". Holy shit!
- What's this?
- Yes, the same thing that we carried with us - a card.
- I didn't know that in 2037 anyone had such cards.
- It's like a parallel world, let's call it that.
- And there are parallel worlds?
- Your head will probably start spinning. Yes, there is. Let's talk about them later, otherwise we started talking about one thing, why jump to another.
- Well, let's go, - Zavirdyaev gave in, - So are you for what they're planning or against?
- Against. It will be complete crap and a prison of nations. And the slums will not go anywhere and much more. Do you think that all these powders were allowed for sale only to destroy the Latin American drug mafia, which, supposedly, the Asian Bloc could attract to its side?
- And is it not?
- Only partly. If there was no such threat, they would have allowed it anyway. Unnecessary people will quietly leave on their own. Notice how cleverly they did it - there are no restrictions on sale and purchase, but there are no restrictions on consumption.
- What's wrong with that? Alcohol can't be consumed just anyhow, for example, while driving.
- Well, you've made a comparison! Haven't you noticed that a worker from the slums can afford it relatively freely, but if a valuable specialist is caught, then he has a chance to play until he gets fired, he ends up on the sidelines of life, and then the front. And he doesn't have to show up to work high. You know that, right? They can catch you outside of work. And if you're no use to anyone, then at least sniff yourself to the point of bursting into flames, - Landskricht laughed.
- I didn't really look into it. They don't check us. I admit several times... I can imagine what it is... but I have nothing serious to do with it. We don't have such important production facilities in our region. Is it so strict at strategic enterprises? I think the military has such rules at the missile launch site.
- We didn't look into it, but can you imagine? Okay, let's not talk about it... Also about the fronts - Conversion assumes freezing them, but allows for a scenario that will only be limited to denuclearization. Guess what they'll choose?
- Why not freeze them, - suggested Zavirdyaev.
- It's such an effective lever of influence on society, how can you throw it away like that? No, that won't do. That's how they reason.