America: From a Fallen Child Star to the Head of the University of the West

Sean chose a location near the City Hall again. Although it wasn't in Love Square this time, it was still very close to the City Hall.

This is the heart of Philadelphia, a place with a high volume of people of all races and ages. It's the perfect location for conducting street surveys.

The reason Chinatown wasn't chosen is because its experience as a model is largely unreliable. The reasoning is that regardless of skin color, most people wouldn't support it. The cost of rising housing prices might not be acceptable to everyone, and the benefits of the new project? Those won't be known for another seven or eight years!

"Alright, let's begin." Sean instructed Matthew to prepare the equipment. "You'll be in charge of filming, and I'll be in charge of asking questions. Remember, we need to cover as many different groups of people as possible; we can't just ask the Chinese, nor can we only ask our supporters."

"Understood." Matthew picked up the Sony A7M4. "Turn it on."

Sean straightened his collar and walked toward the nearest passerby.

He was a middle-aged white man in a suit, who looked like a white-collar worker from a nearby office building, and his favorability rating towards me was [45].

"Hello, sir, excuse me." Sean gave a standard smile. "I'm Sean Penn, conducting a public opinion poll on Philadelphia's urban development. Could I have a few minutes of your time?"

The middle-aged man looked him up and down and recognized his face.

"Are you that actor... who caused trouble at the hearing?"

"Yes, sir," Sean admitted frankly, "but I'm not here to cause trouble today; I just want to hear the voices of ordinary citizens."

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, but eventually stopped.

"Okay, go ahead and ask."

"Thank you." Sean glanced down at the questionnaire. "First question: Have you heard about the 76ers' plans to build a new arena in the fashion district?"

"Of course I've heard about it." The man narrowed his eyes, seemingly deep in thought. "It's been all over the news lately. I think they've been making a fuss about it for about two years now."

"So what is your stance on this project? Are you supportive, opposed, or neutral?"

The man thought for a few seconds.

"I support it. Building a new arena is a good idea," he said. "That area is so lifeless; it needs some vitality."

"Understood." Sean marked the questionnaire. "Then do you know that the new arena is only a few blocks from Chinatown?"

"I know," the man shrugged. "But so what? For a city to develop, someone has to make concessions; it's a necessary sacrifice."

Do you think the residents of Chinatown should "sacrifice" themselves?

The question startled the man.

"That's not what I meant..." His tone was somewhat embarrassed. "I was just saying that development is the general trend, and we can't stop it just because a few people are against it."

"A small number?" Sean pressed. "Do you know how many residents there are in Chinatown?"

The other person's favorability rating has increased to [35].

"Well... I'm not quite sure."

"Do you know how long Chinatown has a history?"

This time it became [25].

"Uh..." The man began to sound impatient. "Excuse me, I'm in a hurry. Can you hurry up?"

"Of course, one last question," Sean smiled, "If you lived in Chinatown, would you support this project?"

The man opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he just shook his head.

"I don't know," he admitted. "Probably not."

"Thank you for your cooperation, sir. Have a nice day."

When he left, it became [15].

Sean watched the man leave, then turned to look at Matthew.

Was I being a bit too aggressive just now?

"Hmm..." Matthew shook his head, "It's not just a little, it's very aggressive!"

"Okay," Sean sighed helplessly, but he still wrote it down: "First one, supportive, but wavering in stance."

Let's continue!

Soon, the two of them stopped an elderly Asian woman who appeared to be strolling around the neighborhood.

"Hello, ma'am." Matthew took a bold approach, choosing to greet her in Cantonese based on his life experience. "I wanted to ask if you know that a basketball court is going to be built near Chinatown?"

The old lady's initially wary gaze softened slightly upon hearing Cantonese, but she immediately became excited upon hearing the words "basketball court."

"What basketball court?! It's insane!" The old lady waved her hand, seemingly indignant about the matter, even though she didn't live in Chinatown.

"My son has a shop right there, you know? The rent's gone up to a horrible level since it opened! And what if those foreigners get drunk and come smash up our shop?"

Matthew quickly reassured her, "Grandma, don't get agitated, we're just conducting a survey..."

"What's the point of an investigation? The government's already taken the money!" the old woman scoffed. "Young man, you have to help us! We can't let them tear down Chinatown!"

As Matthew looked into the old lady's eyes, he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest.

Although he was an Asian who grew up in the United States, he knew what it felt like to be marginalized and ignored.

Sean, standing to the side, remained silent, then heavily checked the "oppose" box on the questionnaire. This time, he chose silence.

……

Over the next three hours, Sean and Matthew expanded their interviews, conducting surveys at multiple locations, including City Hall Square, Reading Station Market, and near the Liberty Bell.

They interviewed a total of 127 people, covering different ethnic groups including white, black, Latino, and Asian, with ages ranging from 18 to over 70.

The survey results were unexpected.

Only 31 people, or 24.4%, explicitly supported the new stadium.

Forty-six people, or 36.2%, explicitly opposed the idea.

The remaining fifty people, or 39.4%, indicated they were neutral or unaware of the situation.

"The number of people opposing it is almost 12 percentage points higher than those in favor." Matthew looked at the statistics, his tone tinged with surprise. "I thought there would be more people in favor, after all, this is an NBA team project."

"That's the power of information asymmetry," Sean said. "Many people only know that a new arena is going to be built, but they don't know what that means. When you tell them that it might ruin a century-old community, their attitude changes."

This is also why people are afraid to say things that might be seen as racist. However, he can use this to manipulate even more people.

Although it's shameless, it's not necessarily ineffective.

"And then there are the neutral ones..." Matthew pondered. "Most of them say they don't know much about the situation and need more information to make a judgment."

"That's right. This means there's still a lot of room for maneuver in the information war." Sean put away the questionnaire. "Whoever can tell their story better will win over these wavering hearts."

"The 76ers have money and media resources, which they can use to promote the benefits of the new arena. But Chinatown has history, warmth, and stories of ordinary people's struggles."

Before the interview, he didn't actually have a clear plan regarding whether or not to support the 76ers' development project. After all, he's not the kind of person who would recklessly pursue a path of justice to the bitter end. Even if you're an idealist, you have to be realistic.

But after this interview, his intuition told him that public opinion was not so simple.

Sean looked at Matthew and said what he wanted to say: "The question now is, who will tell this story?"

Matthew looked at Sean, already having made up his mind.

"I suppose this is what you're planning to do?"

Sean did not answer, but instead gave a meaningful smile.

"Matthew, I think it's time we made more friends."

"You mean Chinese? Asian?" Matthew looked at Sean in a friendly manner.

"Of course not, there are other ethnic groups, other social groups..."

"For example, Muslims? How do you plan to win them over?" Matthew asked Sean. "Many of them think you're deliberately inciting public discrimination against Muslims."

"Why do you say that? These are just misunderstandings people have about me," Sean said unconcerned. "Besides, I know a lot about Muslim culture; I often eat Lanzhou noodles..."

"Okay, fine..." Matthew looked at the man in front of him with a black line on his forehead. Although he often spoke wildly and often had a brain fart, his judgment was sharp.

Such a person may truly be worth following.