Night City is already a country of China, and the US imperial Congress cannot interfere with this city. It is completely managed by the company.
Arasaka Corporation is a large international company that originated from an island country but is rooted in the United States. Its fields include space communications, network security, prosthetic transformation, education, medical care, etc.
In the war, Arasaka Company is a very powerful party and has the ability to launch a war.
Night City, where Arasaka Company is located, is an advanced port city and one of the most important ports in the Pacific, with huge throughput.
In this psychedelic city, there is also the characteristic of failure of grassroots management that occurs in all cyberpunks. The grassroots level is full of criminals.
When the plane landed at the airport, the people from Section 9 were immediately divided into two groups. One group took a stealth smart chariot to hide, and the other group conducted the investigation in the open.
Dulan and Togusa are responsible for the secret investigation.
"Keep in touch." Motoko said, and she and her troops boarded the Arasaka company's welcome car and headed to the 'Arasaka Tower' in the city center. This is their headquarters and one of the landmark buildings in the city center.
It is a big city with bright lights, but it is also a breeding ground for darkness and crime.
"The latest safety guarantee, as long as you purchase a membership, once you are in danger, the trauma team will dispatch an armed ambulance to rescue you. Whether you are in a deserted wilderness, a nightclub with complex environment, or in busy and noisy traffic
Hub. No matter where you are, we will monitor the safety of our insured customers in real time. Once we find that the customer needs rescue, we will arrive as soon as possible to provide the customer with the best rescue service. Buy the 'Trauma Team' now
Members can also enjoy a 10% discount.”
The advertisements on the big screen are playing in a loop, which is about armed rescue. As long as you spend money, you can enjoy the best rescue services.
"You need to spend money before you can get an ambulance?" Togusa felt that this was too exaggerated.
"Don't talk about ambulances. Firetrucks also have to spend money to buy membership first, and then they will come to save you when there is a fire. Otherwise, the firetruck will only cool down the neighbors who have purchased memberships, preventing the fire in your house from burning your neighbors, instead of saving you.
Home." Dulan said: "This is the American empire, and money is everything."
"But..." Togusa said: "But we are all human beings, how can we be so realistic?"
In the island country, the parliament is still functioning, but Night City is completely autonomous, and the parliament has no ability to interfere. Night City is already a real company, a real cyberpunk.
Togusa also thought that the parliament would be at the top and the company would be at the bottom. He also thought that the parliament would be responsible for some basic work, such as basic ambulances and firetrucks. But in Night City, everything has to be paid first, which is a true throwback to ancient Athens.
And the Renaissance really used money to solve all problems.
"Actually, it's all the same." Dulan said, "The same goes for island countries."
"Why is it the same? In the island country, even if you don't buy a membership, at least the ambulance will still take people to the hospital. Even if you don't have money and can't receive treatment, it's something that will happen later. It won't be like the night city.
You have to buy a membership first for an ambulance, not to mention the bills for follow-up treatment. It’s not the same at all, okay?”
"I'm saying the same thing. I'm not talking about whether you can take an ambulance. I'm talking about the operation of society. I'm asking you, do you know that a white horse is not a horse?"
"..." Tuogusa obviously has never heard of the famous masters of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.
"Then do you know "Journey to the West"?"
"I know this."
"Let me ask you, there are two positions in Heaven, Monkey King and Bima Wen. What do you want to do?"
"Um, does it matter?"
"What do you choose?" Duran asked.
"It must be the Great Sage Equaling Heaven." Togusa said.
"That's right, everyone wants to be the Monkey King, but someone has to be Bi Mawen, right?"
"What does this have to do with Night City?"
Du Lan said: "The relationship is very important, that is, how to decide who will be the Monkey King and who will be Bi Mawen. Initially, it is naturally decided by blood, then it is enfeoffment, and then it is dynasty. In the beginning, the son of Monkey King was Qi
The great sage of heaven, Bima Wen’s son is Bima Wen. Then he enfeoffed, enfeoffed
It is further divided into capital enfeoffment and territory enfeoffment. Those who are eligible for enfeoffment decide who will be the Monkey King and Bima Wen according to the capital and land in their hands. The last is dynasty, that is, Han dynasty, through the selection of talents, through
A person’s virtue will determine who will be the Monkey King and who will be Bi Mawen.”
Togusa still looked confused and asked: "So what does this have to do with Night City?"
"To put it simply, this is how to divide labor. How to let Bi Mawen do Bi Mawen with peace of mind, instead of rebelling." Dulan said: "This brings us back to the issue of white horses and non-horses. That's what I say.
‘Poor people are not human beings’ and ‘refugees are not human beings’, do you understand now?”
"I don't understand. Of course poor people are human beings, and refugees are human beings. Why are they not human beings? A white horse is also a horse."
"From the perspective of ductility, you are right, but from the perspective of connotation, you are wrong. The horse has strong ductility and weak connotation, while the white horse has weak ductility and strong connotation. Extensibility means to
When everyone comes together, connotation is what distinguishes everyone
Three, six, nine, etc. First use ductility to frame you, and then use connotation to define you and let you be Bi Mawen. People are strong in ductility but weak in connotation. Poor people and refugees are weak in ductility and strong in connotation.
, this definition will allow them to be Bi Mawen."
Togusa needs to be digested.
"To put it simply, a society needs to be recognized by everyone. This needs to be extensible and everyone needs to enter this society. But it also needs division of labor, which requires connotative division of labor. It must be defined so that Bi Mawen can be Bi Mawen with peace of mind. And
Extensibility is usually universal, that is, universal values, such as justice, fairness, being born as a human being, and being born free.
Ah, these beautiful slogans that everyone hopes for can attract people. And the definitions of connotation are diverse, such as lineage, land ownership, capital ownership, personal virtue, personal ability, etc., and these different attributes are used as distinguishing standards.
.In the island country it’s blood and land, in Night City it’s blood and capital. They both belong to the feudal system.” Duran said.
"..." Togusa's mind was confused.
"To put it simply, some people want to be the Monkey King, and some people want to be Bi Mawen. What makes the decision? Night City depends on money. Those with more money will be Monkey King, and those with less money will be Bi Mawen. So you
It’s understandable why ambulances and firetrucks cost money, right? Because this is tourism
The rules of the game are that if you don’t do this, Night City will not be able to operate at all.” “And the island country looks at the land. Those with more land will be called Monkey King, and those with less land will be Bi Mawen. Because it is land, the landlord must also
It maintains infrastructure on the land, so it also assumes some responsibilities."
"..." Togusa asked blankly, "Isn't it based on everyone's ability?"
"It depends on ability. In a street society, the law of the jungle depends on each person's criminal ability. If you have strong ability, you can become a legend in Night City until you hit the ceiling and die." Duran said: "But society is just like that.
In this way, first use the ductility to expand the
The families are brought together, and then the connotation is used to divide labor for everyone, so that society can function. So I say that Night City and the island country are the same, but the malleable slogans for bringing everyone together are different, and the connotation standards for division of labor are different. So.
A white horse is not a horse, and a refugee is not a human being.”
Togusa feels that this kind of thing is too cold. But this is the basic logic of social operation. The malleable slogans are very nice, justice, equality, freedom, universal love, common prosperity...
But in order to operate, everyone still divides the work. Some people still work as Monkey King, and some people work as Bi Mawen. But what should be used as the standard? Each civilization has its own standards.
Night City has a long history of using capital, both in ancient Athens and the Renaissance. It was ancient Athens that was revived by the Renaissance, and Night City revived the Renaissance.
It's okay to use money as a standard, but the problem is that the essence of money is actually blood. The only thing that cannot be inherited is personal ability. However, in the era of cyberpunk, personal ability can be extended with life span, and everything has returned to