At the moment in 1945, Britain has too much to take care of itself, France is in deep trouble, Russia is a heretic, Germany and Japan are facing liquidation, and the United States is the only opponent in southern Africa.
Southern African companies do maintain close relations with many American companies. From World War I to World War II, especially during the period before the outbreak of World War II, many products of Southern African companies were sold to Germany through the agents of American companies. Most of these American companies
It has disappeared, but if necessary, it can be resurrected at any time.
Truman also knew this situation, but there was nothing he could do about it. International trade was like a pot of meat. The southern Africans took away the meat, leaving only the soup for the Americans. The Americans had to shed tears of gratitude, because if the Americans did not drink it, there were many people who were willing to drink it.
.
The current situation is different from the period before the outbreak of World War II. Southern African companies no longer need the transit of American companies and can invest directly in Europe. Wall Street trade tycoons also want to increase their efforts, but European countries no longer need arms.
, but need construction materials and living supplies, which only southern African companies can provide.
Truman hoped to achieve a breakthrough from Gavin, but was unwilling to pay a high price. The key was the issue of dominance. Truman hoped that the reconstruction of Europe would be dominated by American companies, which was in direct conflict with the fundamental interests of southern Africa. Gavin
It is impossible to give in.
"Of course we welcome the participation of American companies. The reconstruction of Europe is a big project that cannot be completed by southern African companies alone. The key is efficiency. We must gain the trust of European countries before the Russians intervene." Gavin's words made people happy.
Truman was very melancholy and once again hit the Achilles' heel of the United States.
Compared with the United Kingdom and France, the United States clearly has an economic advantage, but compared with southern Africa and even Russia, the United States' advantages are not so obvious.
Roosevelt led the United States out of the Great Depression, essentially denying the free market economy that the West had always advocated, significantly increasing government intervention in the market, and evolving from the previous model of small government and big market to big government and small market, thus successfully emerging from the economic crisis and completing the
A complete leapfrog over old Europe.
Roosevelt's New Deal is definitely beneficial to the United States, but for Wall Street tycoons, Roosevelt's New Deal is tantamount to directly taking away most of their rights from their hands and transferring the dominance of the U.S. economy from capital to government control. This is very harmful to capital.
Very disadvantageous.
When Roosevelt was still alive, his prestige was unprecedented, and Wall Street tycoons were quiet. Even if they were dissatisfied, they could only tolerate it for the time being, and a delicate balance was reached between capital and the government.
Truman's prestige was far less than that of Roosevelt. After Roosevelt's death, the government's intervention in the economy was greatly reduced, and the United States once again returned to the model of capital controlling the country.
This is the current contradiction in the United States.
The U.S. government hopes to lead the reconstruction of Europe, but U.S. capital is unwilling to give up temporary short-term interests. Many companies would rather go bankrupt than transform. This is equivalent to shifting all the pressure to the U.S. government, because unemployed workers cannot
It will target American capitalists and blame the incompetence of the U.S. government.
"The threat from the Russians is inevitable for European countries. We could have used the threat from the Russians to obtain greater benefits. Why not do this?" Truman hoped that southern African companies would raise their own value and not let aid become a
So cheap.
European countries cannot complete post-war reconstruction in time based on their own strength alone. The key point is "timely", which means that they must arrive before the Russians arrive, otherwise they will inevitably be reduced to making wedding clothes for others.
If European countries are given enough time, post-war reconstruction can be completed, it's just a matter of time.
The key lies in the patience of the people. If post-war reconstruction cannot be completed in a short period of time and life is significantly improved, then the threat from the Russians will be infinitely magnified, and the situation may completely change.
Therefore, if Southern Africa can be more reserved and not actively participate in the reconstruction of Europe, then European countries will take the initiative to come to the door and transfer more benefits, at least to maintain the stability of the regime.
In the view of Truman and American capital, Southern African capital was too unreserved and proactively invested in the post-war reconstruction of European countries. It neither guaranteed its own interests nor gave its American counterparts time to prepare, and ultimately gave European countries an advantage.
"Interests are important, but they are not all. We may have lost some interests, but we have gained European friendship, which is completely worth it to us." Gavin could only say that the pattern of American capitalists has become smaller.
Making money is important, but a win-win situation is even more important. When American entrepreneurs write their autobiographies, they always emphasize not earning the last copper. In practice, they always eat everything, break the bones and suck out the marrow, which is too ugly to look at.
Capital in Southern Africa also wants interests, but there is a bottom line. This is the proper reflection of the pattern and demeanor, rather than spending every penny.
Why are the Hebrews like rats crossing the street and everyone calls for beating them? It’s because there is no bottom line for making money. They can make any kind of money, forget about usury, and dare to make money when the country is in trouble. Do they really not worry about liquidation?
Southern Africa is no longer the rising star after World War I, but is committed to replacing the United Kingdom and becoming a responsible big country. At this time, it must take the initiative to transfer some benefits to convince other countries.
In fact, the strength of the United States is not weak, but the structure of the elite class is too small. In other words, virtue is not matched, and sooner or later it will suffer backlash.
"Gavin, on many issues, the interests of Southern Africa and the United States are consistent. We must work closely together to usher in a new new era." Truman's words are actually a threat. The United States is now the devil in front of the king of hell.
, not enough success, but more than enough failure.
Truman's attitude is very clear. On the issue of European reconstruction, Southern African companies can eat meat, but they must leave a bite for their American counterparts, otherwise no one will be able to eat from the pot of meat.
If the United States wants to cause trouble in southern Africa, there are still ways.
Not to mention anything else, as long as the United States continues to provide aid to Russia, Southern Africa's reconstruction plan for Europe will be greatly affected.
"Yes, we do have the same interests in many areas." Gavin partially agreed with Truman. Whether to cooperate closely depends on the attitude of the Americans.
Truman is willing to cooperate, and Gavin will definitely not refuse.
But Truman's biggest problem was that he could not fully represent American capital, which put a big question mark on Truman's sincerity.
Regarding this issue, Gavin took the initiative to find Rock in the evening and wanted to hear what Rock had to say.
"Truman's attitude can only represent himself, not the United States. The biggest problem in the United States is the continuity of policies, which brings more uncertain variables to cooperation. In three years, whether the President of the United States is Truman or not, he will have to
What about the two theories——" Rock is now not sure whether Truman can be re-elected like he was in another time and space.
Unlike Roosevelt, Rock was not deeply impressed by Truman. Simply analyzing the prospects of the US election, Truman's chances of winning were smaller than Thomas Dewey's.
However, what Rock is sure of is that Thomas Dewey did not serve as President of the United States, so Rock still has some expectations for Truman.
The shortcomings of democracy have been fully exposed in the UK. When Winston and the Conservative Party were in power, the UK's attitude towards Russia was neither hostile nor friendly at all.
After Attlee came to power, Britain's attitude towards Russia turned 180 degrees. Attlee sent engines and supported Russia's access to the Black Sea, which caught Roark off guard and left him in the dark.
The United States is the same as the United Kingdom. Roosevelt's success lies not in his several re-elections as president, but in the fact that during the years when Roosevelt was in power, the U.S. government's policies rarely maintained a consistent consistency.
progress.
Now in the Truman era, the U.S. government's control has declined significantly, and Rock is not sure how long the U.S.'s friendship with southern Africa can last.
One thing is certain, even in the Roosevelt era, the United States would not hesitate to attack southern Africa as long as it had the opportunity.
"The current situation in the United States is very serious. If we add fuel to the flames, the conflicts in the United States will further intensify. Will this allow us to gain an absolute advantage in the competition with the United States?" Gavin is ambitious, and Rock has not even imagined this possibility.
Pass.
But looking back, this possibility is indeed very high.
In another time and space, the United States became the dominant nation after World War II. In fact, the Cold War pattern also had factors that were fueled by the United States. The gap between Russia's strength and the United States was quite obvious. The United States also relied on foreign countries to rely on itself to a large extent.
To put it bluntly, it is to shape Russia as the biggest source of threat to Europe after Germany in order to strengthen European countries' dependence on the United States, so that the United States can kidnap European countries to the greatest extent and form a community of interests.
In this time and space, there is Southern Africa, and the influence of the United States on Europe has been greatly weakened. If Southern Africa goes all out, can it keep the influence of the United States away from Europe?
Rock's heart beat violently, he had never imagined this possibility.
"What do you want to do?" No matter what the future holds, Rock will retire. Even if he plots against the United States, Gavin will take the lead.
"If we prevent the United States from getting involved in the reconstruction of European countries, the consequences will be unpredictable; but if we give up part of our interests to the United States, then the distribution of these interests will cause controversy." Gavin understands that if you want to get it, you must first do it.
The logic behind it.
This is also true.
If U.S. companies are not given any chance, then U.S. capital will unite to compete with southern African capital, which objectively helps U.S. capital reach an internal consensus, and Truman is probably happy to do so.
Giving up part of the interests to the United States is equivalent to killing three people with two peaches. The greedy nature of capital will completely explode, external contradictions will turn into internal contradictions, and Americans will break their heads.
"I have already given Truman some medicine before, but the amount is probably not enough. You can increase the amount of medicine next. Who would think that he has too much power?" Rock agreed. His original intention was just to choose.
Considering the conflict between the US government and US capital, Gavin did not expect to go one step further.
A country like the United States cannot be monolithic. Internal conflicts are very sharp. It only depends on whether it knows how to use them rationally.
Fortresses are broken from within. To defeat a country like the United States, external pressure is not only ineffective, but may also be counterproductive. The Americans must first cause chaos themselves.
Let’s not talk about distant fields. Although Rockefeller dominates the US oil industry, there is internal competition. After the Rockefeller split in 1911, it split into multiple oil companies. Don’t these oil companies compete with each other?
Not only does it exist, but it is also more intense. In the past, each was the king of the mountain, but now it is the winner and the loser, and the competition is even more intense.
This means that before the critical moment of life and death, the companies that Rockefeller split up could barely maintain a tacit understanding.
It’s really to the point where you don’t have time to take care of yourself. I’d rather die as a fellow Taoist than as a poor Taoist.
"Understood!" Gavin was confident. Southern Africa was not as bad as the United States. It was crushed by the system.
The United States is worse than European countries. Southern Africa has been on the right path from the beginning, wearing the skin of capitalism but with the backbone of nationalism. When it comes to external competition, Southern African companies have never fought alone.
It appears as a whole, so that it can naturally form local advantages and defeat them one by one.
Although American capital also has advantages, they are all compared to European countries. During the Roosevelt era, the American government used Keynesianism as the theoretical basis to lead the United States out of the Great Depression. Now American capitalism is on the rise again, and Keynesianism has been abandoned. This is suicidal.
road.
The Southern African model is also Keynesian in nature, but it gives capital greater freedom, and the federal government's intervention in the economy is controlled to a certain extent without being overly rigid and flexible. This is something that the United States and European countries cannot do.
of.
For capital, the smaller the government's interference, the better.
Capital also has its own limitations. The pursuit of interests amplifies the greed of capital, and the lack of overall structure leads to inherent deficiencies of capital.
This model in the United States will not be exposed until capital develops to a certain extent.
Now this process is brought forward.
Like Roark, Gavin still used the railway system in southern Africa as a breakthrough to demonstrate the superiority of nationalism to Truman.
"After the federal government took over the railway system, the railway system has actually been losing money. In the past twenty years, the passenger fares of Southern African Railways have not increased at all and have remained at the same level as twenty years ago." Gavin's words made people sad.
Truman was surprised. What was he doing?
During the Great Depression, the U.S. government also made a lot of infrastructure investments, which played a positive role.
But soon, because the operational burden was too great, these infrastructure projects were returned to private capital operations by the U.S. government.
Gavin did not explain to Truman that the losses in passenger transportation would be compensated to a certain extent by freight.
Coupled with other profits, the loss is actually not much.
