Literary Master 1983

Chapter 330 Chicago Speech

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is not a newspaper, but an academic journal.

It was initially quite impartial, focusing on the threat of nuclear war to humanity. However, as it grew larger, it gradually became a mouthpiece for governments, used to criticize and stir up trouble for other countries.

For example, the United States building nuclear bombs would certainly be beneficial to order; the Soviet Union building nuclear bombs, "an action that increased world tensions by 10%".

Yu Qie refused outright.

He rejected the lobbyist of bookseller Harper, but unexpectedly, Ambassador Shen soon came to him as well.

“Yu Qie, could you go to the University of Chicago to give a speech instead?”

It's the University of Chicago again.

Yu Qie was puzzled: "You've also heard about the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists?"

"What communiqué?" Ambassador Shen said. "Do you remember your book 'The Big Handcuff'? You criticized those who were unwilling to return to China! Now there are the first batch of doctoral students sent abroad to Chicago, and they all want to meet you."

“Chicago is a major city in the United States, and it has an airport. Why don’t we go back with them?”

After Ambassador Shen said that, Yu Qie had no choice but to go to Chicago instead.

The country has high hopes for this group of PhDs. Almost all of them have learned the skills to slay dragons – as the first batch of foreign PhDs in New China, as long as they are willing to come back, they will at least become the head of a ministerial-level university in the future.

At this time, Yu Qieyan's mentor also called: one of his senior classmates was about to return to China and was planning to invite Nobel laureate economist Theodore Schultz to China to give him some guidance.

Comrade Hu Daiguang is preparing to step down as dean of the School of Economics at Yenching University this year, and he still wants to do some more for Yenching University.

Schultz is a remarkable person. He's a rare economist among developed countries who studies agricultural development and has a deep understanding of human capital theory. Which country in the world has both a large number of poor people? That explains why Schultz is so highly regarded by the Chinese.

“Yu Qie, you really can’t do economics in isolation. Back then, we introduced Western economics, and we still don’t have very scientific tools to measure our own development. Schultz is an agricultural expert and also a China expert; you must invite him.”

"Okay, okay, I'll do my best. I heard that Professor Hu is stepping down this year, so what will you be doing after that..."

"I'm getting old and have to leave the forefront of academia. I will take on some management work," Hu Daiguang said.

Looks like he's about to get promoted.

At Hu Daiguang's age, where could he possibly advance? Surprisingly, although he doesn't play bridge, he's even better than Ma Shitu.

Economics is great, I should study economics.

After hanging up the phone, Yu Qie flew to Chicago.

……

University of Chicago.

Schultz was discussing "going to China" with his student, Lin Yifu.

Schultz had visited China once before and received a warm welcome.

The university was looking for a student who understood Western economics and also had excellent foreign language skills, and they chose Lin Yifu. Lin Yifu lived up to expectations and performed very well. In the end, Schultz recommended him to study at the University of Chicago and took him on as his last student.

Schultz is now very satisfied. He said, "You have learned all my skills. Only the Chinese can truly improve China's economy. You no longer need me."

Lin Yifu advised, "Teacher, I am still far behind you. I cannot explain many phenomena independently."

One of Schulz's major achievements was explaining how countries like Japan, Germany, and South Korea, which, apart from population explosions, had relatively poor resource endowments, rose to prominence.

Some economists previously explained that "war drives technological development," but this cannot explain South Korea.

Schultz discovered that developing countries can stimulate economic development by optimizing their human capital, with the contribution approaching 40%. Simply put, human capital is more powerful than coal!
"You're ready..."

"Adding me might not be enough. What if Yu Qie also comes?"

Schultz's eyes lit up: "Yu Qie? The writer Yu Qie you're talking about?"

"That's him! Did you know he studied economics? He must have some insights of his own. Wouldn't you like to have a chat with him?"

Yu Qie is indeed a very popular writer right now.

His novel *Metro* uses bottle caps as currency, which has a dark humor feel to it. However, there is actually some economic logic to it.

Money itself is a kind of credit equivalent. In the present day, it can be a piece of paper with a dollar sign printed on it, or it can be a bottle cap.

Some believe that it was this "crossing of identities" that prompted him to write this kind of dark humor.

What if the world's currency was bottle caps?
Should the author Yu Qie's portrait be printed on it?

Schultz chuckled at the thought and reluctantly agreed, "Okay, I'd like to go see it too."

On the other hand, since Yu Qie had already arrived, he naturally couldn't refuse the speech given by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

He hastily drafted a speech.

Thus, a four-way meeting was formed, consisting of physicists from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, economists from the Chicago School, Michiko Kakutani, a contributor to The New York Times, and Yu Qie, a Chinese writer.

The audience was packed with American students who had come to listen in. Lin Yifu was among them.

All I heard was a nervous white American student introducing Yu Qie: "He's the creator of the Colombian journey, the tough-guy author who made the Chilean government back down! He's the author of the current American bestseller 'Metro,' who constructed a vast and magnificent... He is... He is..."

I spent half the time introducing myself, and it got a bit awkward.

Yu Qie took over and said, "I don't think a few words can describe me, because I've really done a lot of things, and I'm tired of hearing about them. How should I introduce myself? I have an unpublished novel called 'American Mental Patients,' and the most impressive person in it doesn't even have a suffix on his name card..."

"The more capable a person is, the less they need to be introduced. They themselves are the meaning and the story."

"So, Yuqie may become an adjective in the future. When you can't think of what to use to describe me, just call me by my name. That's a sign of respect for me."

These words seemed to have a magical power, even Lin Yifu was excited and couldn't help but clench his fist.

"Yu Qie is truly living up to his reputation! He's actually an economist? I've only heard of him at Yenching University, I've never met him."

A student from Tsinghua University said.

Lin Yifu instinctively defended him, saying, "He's from our Yenching University. Don't look at how many years he studied there; I only studied for a year. What matters is what he did..."

“You’re right,” the man said, pausing for a moment.

Everyone had a chance to speak. Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times asked the first question, which was directed at Yu Qie.

“I’ve been following you since 1985. Back then, you proposed the idea of ​​‘nuclear wasteland,’ saying that if there were a world war, the world wouldn’t be destroyed, but humanity would. You also made predictions about Japan’s economic bubble, although it hasn’t come true yet… Does this mean you’re a very rational person, and that you’re pessimistic about the development of humanity?”

Michiko Kakutani added, “You have many identities, and I actually dislike people like that. Hunter, sports enthusiast, belligerent, documentary writer… which one are you? Is there some kind of exaggerated performance involved, because you know Western society likes people like that?”

This is indeed a phenomenon.

Americans tend to prefer this type of writer. These individuals don't rely on sheer hard work to compensate for their lack of talent; rather, they seem to effortlessly create profoundly insightful works by leveraging their numerous strengths. Why this cultural difference?
Perhaps it's the influence of religion that leads them to believe that "God gives you your inherent talents." If you make things particularly difficult, then you don't have those talents, yet you insist on working hard, which shows that you are disrespectful to God.

“You actually asked three questions. First, am I pessimistic about humanity? I am not pessimistic. I just hope that humanity finds its place, which is actually a kind of romantic optimism, like the ending of Metro, where we can always start over, it’s not a big deal.”

"Therefore, those who surrender are not my readers."

"Secondly, will Japan's bubble burst? Yes, it will, it's just not the right time yet."

Every word Yu Qie uttered was a bombshell.

Liu Xiangcheng of Time magazine recently went to Iceland to film the "intermediate-range missile negotiations," which caused him to miss the conversation that took place at the University of Chicago.

Shao Qi was there, and she couldn't help but raise her head to watch Yu Qie debate with the group of scholars.

Her professional journalistic skills compelled her to write down everything Yu Qie said, but it didn't seem to require much effort, because she had forgotten what Michiko Kakutani had asked, but clearly remembered every word Yu Qie had said.

When Yuqie breathes, the people here breathe; when Yuqie laughs, the people here laugh.

Do people really understand the Yuqie before them?

Or perhaps they saw the Yuqie they had imagined come into reality.

This is a collection shaped by the media, his own novels, and legendary stories—a phenomenon called "Yuqie."

It is said that when George W. Bush visited the United States, he received an incredible welcome. This already gives a glimpse into that.

“The third question!” Yu Qie held up his finger.

He wanted to end the argument there.

Yu Qie said, "Good people don't play a certain role that people like. You're wrong. It's precisely because I'm this kind of person that you think everyone approves of this role."

Michiko Kaku was stunned by what she was said.

Do you first have a liking for something, and then find reasons to support that liking?

The president of the Chinese PEN Center is Ba Jin, while the president of the American PEN Center is Norman Mailer. This gentleman graduated with an engineering degree, majoring in spaceflight technology, and served four years as a U.S. soldier, fighting in the Pacific War.

He has been married six times, has many illegitimate children, is heavily in debt, is an alcoholic and drug addict, makes disparaging remarks about political figures and female celebrities, and defends murderers.

However, he is considered "the conscience of America" ​​and "the greatest American writer since World War II".

Why would someone like this person?

Young Michiko Kakuko didn't understand this matter.

She criticized Norman Mailer many times, feeling that his novels lacked innovation but he generated a lot of off-screen buzz, which led Norman Mailer to lash out at her, calling her a discriminator. "She's Japanese! She disrespects me because I fought in the Pacific War."

However, Norman Mailer did not so bluntly state the thoughts of American readers—that people genuinely liked him.

Now Michiko Kakutani understands.

She said, "You're right, because you are Yuqie, people support Yuqie."

Subsequently, physicists and editors from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists also wanted to ask Yu Qie questions.

This academic journal was originally founded by Einstein, Oppenheimer, and others, and has now been developed into a media brand that regularly speaks for Washington, D.C.

An editor asked, "What's your opinion on the fact that some countries didn't participate in the event held in Iceland...?"

Yu Qie retorted with a single sentence: "I heard that Oppenheimer cried like a woman because he created a nuclear bomb. This magazine was originally a 'basic nuclear radiation protection manual' produced by physicists, just like more than ten years ago, when my hometown organized people to watch the drill manual—because not many people knew about nuclear war."

"Isn't this interesting? Actively preparing for war can actually prevent war from happening."

"That's just sophistry!" the editor couldn't help but stand up and say.

"Do you know why I'm still talking to you here? Because I really did fire the gun, and Mr. Hemingway just kept it on the top left corner of the table. He wasn't left-handed."

The editor had just gotten up halfway, preparing to launch into a long speech, when he quickly sat back down.

All he could say was, "You at least support reducing nuclear weapons, right?"

Yu Qie laughed and said, "These two countries do indeed have too many nuclear weapons. I fully support their reduction of nuclear weapons. They possess nine times more nuclear weapons than all other countries combined! Do you support that?"

"I...I..." the editor stammered, unsure of what to say.

Lin Yifu listened from below and laughed.

Yu Qie is both like a young man, aggressive and shrewd, able to see through the linguistic traps of Westerners. This is something many international students find difficult to do.

Afterwards, Lin Yifu's teacher, Schultz, asked a question.

Because there were so many people there, and the people ahead of him were asking Yu Qie questions, Schultz had to chat with Michiko Kakutani and a group of people from the Chicago Institute of Physics for a while before talking about the book "Metro".

Schultz said, "I'm afraid many Americans don't know you're an economist. You wrote an article on exchange rates, the math was done by someone else, but the reasoning was brilliant, successfully preventing your country from suffering losses. In your book, you wrote about using bottle caps as currency? It seems absurd yet somewhat reasonable."

"Do you think it's more absurd or more reasonable now?"

Yu Qie said seriously, "I think it's more reasonable. Because we are currently living in a more absurd world, where the global currency is replaced by a fiat currency created by a single country, and it is not even anchored to any physical object; it's just a piece of paper."

“Mr. Schultz, when the end of the world comes, I’ll give you a dollar, or I’ll give you a metal bottle cap. Which do you want?”

“Of course I want the bottle cap,” Schultz said, bursting into laughter.

Doesn't this mean that he, as an economist, is openly mocking the US dollar?

“But what use was the dollar then?” Schultz said.

“You’re right, this is the end of the world.” Yu Qie even made a call-back: “Therefore, in order to protect the dollar, Americans should continue to reduce nuclear weapons.”

Everyone burst into laughter!
Schultz was holding his back, a habit he had as a farmer's son. Schultz is a rare economist from American farming background who, before undertaking a major undertaking, would rub his back—just like he would his cornfield waiting to be harvested.

He has decided to go to China.

This was partly due to Lin Yifu's request, and partly due to Yu Qie's influence. From this writer, Schultz saw the profound changes brought about by investment in education, with some individuals having already reached or even far surpassed the level of workers in developed countries.

He quickly adapted to Western life and then dominated his peers.

It remains a country with a low level of development, which means it fits well with Schultz's theoretical model. Given its large population and strong executive power, it will become a new representative work of Schultz's theory.

In the future, more people like Yu Qie will have seen the world and will step forward.

Who would be that kind of person?
His student, Lin Yifu, excitedly stood up and wrote in his notebook today:
As long as the nation has not been revitalized, our responsibility is not yet fulfilled; as long as there are still poor people in the world, we ourselves remain poor.

(End of this chapter)