Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 1773: Are you polite if you do this? (Second update, please subscribe)
Seeing is believing, hearing is not.

To most people, it seems that this is the world, but of course many people don’t know this. Seeing is not necessarily believing, and hearing is definitely false.

Whether it's newspapers, books or television, everything they want people to see has its own starting point.

These starting points may be based on one reason or another, but what is certain is that most of the time, some people will only let the majority of people know what they should do or what they need to do.

And many times they have no way of knowing, they only see what they see in front of them and what they hear now.

As for the resolution, it's just a joke.

On the TV screen, the background music of the news program gradually faded away and the camera switched to the studio.

As a popular news talk show, the host Wei Kang sits in the center with a professional smile on his face. In the past few years, the programs he hosted always focus on current affairs and track the news that the audience cares about most. It is because of his sharp comments that he has always been popular with the audience.

The same is true today.

On his left and right sat two special guests, Professor Wells and Professor Feng Guowei. Professor Wells was a sociologist in his 50s, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, with a gentle expression but a firm gaze; Professor Feng Guowei was an economist, wearing a well-tailored suit and with a professional smile on his face.

Wei Kang, the host, nodded slightly and started the topic:

"Dear audience, today we are discussing the recent military coup in Libya. This coup has attracted widespread attention from the international community, and we cannot help but wonder whether it is in the interests of the Libyan people and its impact on our country. First, please tell us your opinion, Professor Wells."

Professor Wells pushed his glasses slightly and spoke in a calm tone, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he began his attack in the way he was best at:

"From the perspective of the Libyan people, this military coup was inevitable. The Kingdom of Libya has long been politically corrupt, ruled by darkness, and its people have lived in poverty and injustice. Although the coup led by Gaddafi was drastic, it was supported by the majority of the people. This coup was in the interests of the Libyan people because it overthrew the corrupt monarchy and brought hope for the country's future."

This is what they like to do most, which is to occupy the moral high ground from the beginning of the conversation and then put the other party at a disadvantage where they have no way to refute.

They know very well what weapons they have in their hands, and their weapons are morality. Most of the time, they only need to speak with morality, and facts and the like are not within their consideration.

They will use a moral high ground to establish the core of the conversation, and if you oppose them, you are at a moral disadvantage.

Professor Feng Guowei is no longer surprised by people's behavior.

As soon as the other party finished speaking, Professor Feng Guowei sneered and interrupted directly:
“I completely disagree with Professor Wells’s view. A military coup is an inappropriate means in itself, regardless of the position of the coup.

It undermines the rule of law and order and may lead to greater chaos. If people choose to use faces and weapons to talk when they disagree, then what is the point of having law and order? "

Before he could finish, the other party continued to speak and said that it was Professor Feng Guowei who did not give him a chance to speak and continued.

"Of course, we don't know what each country has experienced and what it has gained. But now, the reason why we are paying attention to this issue is not to pay attention to Libya. After all, it is Libya, a country thousands of miles away, just like the professor just said. It is the choice of their people and has nothing to do with us, right?"

Faced with such a rhetorical question, Professor Wells was a little confused. He nodded and said:
"Yes, you are right. The Libyan people will choose their own destiny and it has nothing to do with us directly."

"Yes, the Libyan people have the right to choose their own destiny and it has nothing to do with us. But..."

Professor Feng Wei suddenly emphasized while following the other party's words:
“We have to look at this issue from our own perspective. From our perspective, what we need is a stable Libyan kingdom because we have a lot of investments in Libya, especially in oil fields. These investments are related to the economic interests of our country.

I don’t believe what the Libyan people chose, but if their choice hurts our interests, then shouldn’t we care about it?”

Faced with such a rhetorical question, Professor Wells frowned, with a hint of dissatisfaction in his tone:
“Professor Feng Guowei, your view is too narrow. We cannot ignore the suffering of the Libyan people just because of economic interests. Their rights and freedoms are equally important.”

Professor Feng Guowei, who had already led the other party into a ditch, raised his voice a few notches:

“I am not so philanthropic as to care about the Libyans thousands of miles away. What I care about is the people of my own country.

Our investment in Libya was built using the pension funds of each and every one of us.

If we don’t protect our own interests, are we going to watch these oil fields being taken away by the Libyans and used to pay them welfare?”

Professor Wells's expression turned serious, and his tone was accusing:

"Your view is completely imperialist. We should not sacrifice the people of other countries for our own benefit."

Professor Feng Guowei sneered and retorted: "Imperialism? No, I am a person who puts the interests of my own country first.

Our pensions, our jobs, our economy, depend on these investments.

If you are so philanthropic, why don't you donate your salary to foreigners?
Why do you still need a pension?"

Professor Wells was speechless for a moment, his face flushed. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down:
"These are two different things. We cannot ignore the rights of people in other countries just for our own interests."

Professor Feng Guowei continued to refute without hesitation:
"Rights? The rights of the Libyan people are their own problem.

Our responsibility is to protect the interests of our citizens. If you feel that people in Libya need help, please help them yourself, rather than risk our resources.

We must realize that every investment we make there is a legal investment within the scope of the laws they have established. If they launch a coup today and one person says no, you are imperialists and want to confiscate our investment,
I want to ask you, professor, can you tell me that the pension you want to use today and the benefits you enjoy are all obtained by exploiting ordinary people. Now I want to terminate your benefits! So professor, I want to ask if this is reasonable?"

Professor Wells was a little overwhelmed by Professor Feng Guowei's visit.

When I looked at the other person, I even thought for a moment, is it polite for you to ask like that?

But Professor Feng obviously did not intend to let him off so easily, but continued to ask:
"We all know that it is only natural to pay back debts. All the oil companies in the world have invested in Libya, but they produced oil and gave up their investments because of heavy losses.

But we persisted at that time, and the national pension... that is, the national pension paid by everyone, invested tens of billions of yuan there to develop Libya.

Now suddenly a guy launches a military coup, comes to power, and says something there.

Do not!
I will not allow you to continue to occupy our wealth, and will confiscate all our legal investments there. Let me ask you, professor, if I kick you out of your home and then say, professor, I am going to nationalize your house.

May I? "

"What you're saying is not a problem at all."

Professor Wells still tried to be there and continued.

"We must respect the local people and we should also take into account their demands."

"Then what about our interests? We invested real money there back then, and it was based on the laws he made!"

Feng Guowei stared at the professor in front of him and said:

"According to your approach, all business rules are bullshit, and all business rules can be torn up if you want to?"

The debate between the two became increasingly heated, and the host tried to mediate, but to little avail. The debate was broadcast live across the country, sparking widespread discussion.

The debate mainly took place in newspapers, where many people expressed their views, each standing on their own standpoints to express their opinions.

"Professor Feng Guowei is right! We can't sacrifice our own interests for others!"

“It’s not a question of sacrificing our own interests. The core question is whether we should respect the contract! This is the most basic business rule.

If we break the rules of business for various reasons, and the international business reputation is damaged, how can we conduct international trade? "

The reason why SEA has always firmly defended international business rules is that the simplest principle is to conduct international trade. The reason why SEA can establish a country based on trade is essentially that it relies on the basic international order established in the imperialist colonial era.

In fact, investing in foreign countries is a very risky thing, which is why conducting overseas trade was adventurous during the Age of Discovery - your investment could be confiscated by the locals at any time. At the beginning, European and American countries were inferior in strength and could only give in. Later, as their strength increased, they began to expand by force, that is, to establish colonies.

They did not just defeat the local natives and establish colonies. After all, they established colonies essentially for trade, and in order to conduct trade, rules must be established and followed. Rules are the basis of trade, and fair rules are the prerequisite for commercial prosperity.

This compliance is not limited to requiring the indigenous people to comply, but is required of everyone, because the essence of establishing rules is to protect trade itself. If one party uses its dominant position to arbitrarily formulate or overturn rules, then merchants will naturally stay away from this area. After all, no one will take the initiative to deliver themselves to be robbed by others.

This is also the reason why Britain's overseas colonies have achieved extensive commercial development, while the overseas colonies of Spain and other countries have not been able to achieve substantial commercial development.

Of course, this is also inseparable from the reasons why they plundered colonies. Britain did it for trade, while Spain and other countries did it for land.

In order to allow trade to continue, Britain established business rules in the colonies for everyone to abide by, and ultimately international trade rules were established in this process.

It is also because of this that the subsequent international order came into being.

With this international order, international trade has prospered, and SEA is a staunch defender of this order and basic principles. No matter what the times are, basic rules must be followed.

"The premise of international order is to abide by the rules, which is also the fundamental reason why international trade can continue. Otherwise, if one country confiscates foreign investment under the pretext of "nationalization" today and another country tears up the contract under the pretext of "national interests" tomorrow, then the international order will collapse and the world will fall into recession. What will be waiting for mankind then?"

Faced with such a counter-question, Professor Wells continued to object:
"We should respect contracts and maintain the international business order, but this should not be based on infringing on other countries."

"Invasion of other countries, then I want to ask us and him when the contract was signed, they did not feel that way? Just changed a person, and then said we violated them.

Is that polite?”

In short, all kinds of debates did not end because of this talk show, but instead reached a new climax. However, no one knew that while this seemed like a debate, a very superficial truth was telling everyone.

The money invested in Libya is invested using the national pension's own money. In this case, how many people are willing to see their money go down the drain?

It is very simple to think about this problem, because everyone has the cow, so no one would agree to let others take it away. There may be a few people who try to stand high and speak for foreigners from a so-called moral point of view, but the first thing most people consider is their personal interests!

After all, in most cases, these people only see their own interests, and they only care about their own interests. Do you want them to sacrifice their own interests for foreigners thousands of miles away? Is this possible?

(End of this chapter)