Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 112: The Wisdom of the Johnsons

However, being angry is one thing, and working is another. When the difficult matter has touched upon the law, Ethan feels that the best solution is to consult the wizard.

So, after returning to the company and getting the car, he went to Stanford to seek help from Professor Barbara Babcock, the legal advisor of Game of Destiny.

When he described the situation clearly, Barbara, who was listening carefully, shook her head. "Ethan, I personally feel that this matter cannot be resolved by legal means for the time being. As for the reason, I think the police in Milpitas have already explained it to you. This is not a labor dispute, but an economic issue."

"When California, or the entire United States, needs this group of decadent young people to support the entire or part of the low-end manufacturing industry, no matter where the police are or where the court judges are, they will not take the initiative to deal with these acute problems."

"Because they can't afford the consequences of rising labor costs, and they can't solve the problem of low-end labor shortage, so in this case, even I will maintain the status quo."

'...'

Ethan couldn't accept this result.

He said: "What if we change our approach? Start from the perspective of their causing trouble?"

The thought made Barbara laugh, "Oh Ethan, if they could really be dealt with from a rioting perspective, I think the Milpitas police would have done it a long time ago."

"These hippies are very cunning. They must have experience in confronting the police. They did not gather at the factory gate for a long time, nor did they rush into the factory to smash things. They just came to the factory gate occasionally to shout a few times. This level of disturbance alone does not really constitute a crime."

“Although the factory is yours, the road outside the factory is not yours, right?”

"They passed by the factory gate and shouted a few words because they felt uncomfortable."

"These are all things we can guess at."

At this point, Barbara spread her hands and said helplessly, "We can't help it. These people have been participating in demonstrations in society since the 1960s. They have probably been in and out of the police station more times than you have been in and out of school, so they know how to step on the edge of the law and disgust people."

"More importantly, judging from the current situation, their starting point is still acceptable."

"They didn't mean to loot and smash things maliciously. They just wanted a job. And, if I'm not mistaken, they didn't have any problems at work before, right?"

"If that's the case, the police will be even less willing to deal with them."

Fine……

At this point, Ethan smiled and thanked, then stood up and said goodbye.

Since Barbara couldn't solve these problems, or even she felt that compromising with the economy for a single accident was a reasonable choice, Ethan didn't continue to explore the legal field.

After leaving Stanford, he began to look for Jobs, because he wanted to know how Atari managed these hippies when legal weapons were temporarily unavailable.

When he found Jobs and told him about the problems he was facing, this sunny and cheerful boy scratched his head, looked at Ethan apologetically, and said, "Do you want to know how Nolan manages us?"

"Oh - let me put it this way - Nolan himself is so fuming -"

"He even took us... No, he took the factory employees with him."

“What the fxxk?”

This news made Ethan frown, because when he was at Atari, he had never seen Nolan Bushnell do such a rash thing in public!

"Are you sure?" He asked doubtfully.

"Of course!" Jobs said, "If you don't believe me, you can ask the Los Gatos police. I remember one time he was caught smoking while driving a Cadillac."

"I paid a full $10,000 to be released on bail!"

"The Los Gatos police warned him that if he drove dangerously like this again, they would not let him off next time just because he was the owner of Atari, and would definitely put him in jail."

When this fact came to light, Ethan immediately understood why there was such peace within Atari.

Damn it! If the boss himself is flying, what’s wrong with the people below flying too?
This practice that had no reference was also thrown out of Ethan's mind.

Because no matter which life it is, he and gambling will never reconcile!
When both legal and practical channels were blocked, Ethan was immediately in trouble. At this moment, he really didn't know how to solve those inseparable dog-skin plasters.

But when Evelyn, who was having lunch with him at noon, heard about these things, the girl gave him an idea, "Ethan, why don't you try to find Thomas?"

"Because in my memory, in the decades that our family has been running the orchard, there has never been an accident, and no one has ever come to our orchard to cause trouble. Even during the years when the San Francisco gangs were the most rampant, Thomas never paid those people any transportation fees when he transported navel oranges."

"Although I know these two things can't be mixed up, but what if?"

Ethan's eyes lit up at the suggestion.

Yup!

There is obviously a landlord in their family!

Nonsence--

It's a grower!

Since Thomas has been able to work in the fruit growing industry for so many years, he should have some wisdom in dealing with workers, right?
With this thought in mind, Ethan drove directly to his orchard after dinner.

Since it is the golden autumn season, which is the first period of navel oranges to ripen, when Ethan arrived at the orchard, the picking scene that came into his sight sounded the melody of harvest.

The workers, wearing straw hats and a large cloth bag hanging around their waists, walked through the forest picking the fruits.

Once a bag is full, they will carry it out and hand it over to the personnel stationed outside to count and classify it.

Put the fruits into baskets according to their size, put them on the scale and start weighing.

Every time this happened, Thomas would stare at the dial, fearing that there would be a mistake and ruin his reputation.

With his personal confirmation, the fresh navel oranges will be immediately loaded onto trucks and sent to the dock.

"Oh Ethan, why are you here?"

With the appearance of Ethan, Thomas also stopped the work in his hands.

Raising his arm and wiping the sweat off his forehead, he smiled and said, "You're not here to experience life, are you? If you want to pick navel oranges, there's a cloth bag over there."

"You used to love doing this kind of thing. When you were little, you couldn't reach it because you were not tall enough, so you asked me to carry it on your shoulders..."

The good old days made Ethan smile. He waved his hand slightly and said, "Oh Thomas, if you need someone, just tell me directly. It's not like I won't help you. There's no need to trick me into working illegally!"

"If I remember correctly, you told me before that you would give me a dollar for every bag of navel oranges you picked?"

"The results of it……"

"You just gave me the money and Linda asked me to pay for the meal!"

"I worked all day and got nothing!"

"Hahahaha——" Ethan's joking words made Thomas laugh out loud.

He raised his right hand and punched him, then Thomas said, "Okay, okay, you've grown up, I can't fool you anymore, tell me, why are you here to see me at this time?"

They were all family and knew each other very well, so when Thomas started to ask questions, Ethan decisively told him his difficulties. As he spoke, the smile on Thomas' face gradually faded, and when he finished listening, he clapped his hands, signaling the workers to take a break.

Then he waved his hand and asked Ethan to come over and talk.

At Thomas's choice, the two men stood on a small hill. The scorching sun made Thomas take off his straw hat and put it on Ethan's head.

This situation made Ethan want to refuse, but Thomas waved his hand.

He pulled out a pack of Marlboro from his pocket and started smoking.

"You are wearing a straw hat. The sun is very strong here. People who don't often work outdoors can easily get sunburned."

After explaining, he said, “Ethan, you said the fired workers came to the factory to cause trouble?”

"Oh—I knew this would happen—"

'? ? ? '

Ethan was a little confused by Thomas' words.

Thomas stared at the hundred-acre orchard in front of him and took two deep puffs of his cigarette.

He sighed and said, “Ethan, let me be honest with you. When I learned that you recruited a group of hippies to work, I knew that there would be problems in your factory.”

Although Thomas' words sounded hurtful, Ethan knew that his uncle meant no harm.

So he smiled and asked back: "Oh - is it because they have a bad past?"

Ethan felt that he was right, but Thomas shook his head.

“No,” he said. “I don’t discriminate against other people’s past, because everyone has been young, and when people are at an impulsive age, some crazy ideas will pop up in their minds to a greater or lesser extent.”

“Some people just think about it, and some people make it a reality.”

"You can't say the former are good people, because they may be in a family that values ​​responsibility, and their parents may have discovered their thoughts and decisively nipped some bad ideas in the bud."

"You can't say the latter are bad people, because they may have been born in an unfortunate environment. When their minds were immature, they did some things that were considered wrong by the public. Without anyone to guide them, their mistakes are understandable, and they may even be forgivable if they feel some remorse."

"So what you mean is..." Ethan asked humbly, "Oh Thomas, I think I may not understand what you said. If you say that some hippies can be forgiven, then those who caused trouble..."

Ethan stretched out his voice.

He felt that he had asked his question clearly.

He believes that those who cause trouble cannot be forgiven.

Thomas smiled and shook his head. After taking a few more puffs, he threw the half-burned cigarette on the ground and stomped it out. "Ethan, you misunderstood what I meant."

"I don't discriminate against hippies, but I think it's inappropriate for you to hire hippies to work."

“It’s not about cost.”

There is something profound about Thomas's words.

But the next second, he waved his hand and talked about the past -

"Ethan, look ahead, who are these people working in our orchard?"

Looking in the direction of Thomas's finger, the crowd was full of white figures.

"They are all white, right?" Before Ethan could speak, Thomas said with emotion: "I don't like to recruit those MXG people, nor do I want to recruit those African people. Because in many cases, blindly saving labor costs is not good for an orchard, a farm, or the entire agricultural industry."

"I know you may find my point of view strange, but this is the life wisdom my father left me, and after living according to his wisdom for so many years, I found that what he said is indeed right."

"My father told me that in America, farming is not about growing the land, but about employing people."

"Because every time we provide a job to society, society will give us some power and value, and the specific manifestation is the right to vote."

"Voting rights?" Ethan was stunned when he heard this.

Because he didn't know what this thing had to do with hiring people.

His dazed state made Thomas laugh. He hit Ethan on the shoulder unhappily, signaling him to come back to his senses. Then he said, "Are you thinking about the election?"

"smaller!"

“Look at what’s in front of you!”

"Because that kind of thing is still too far away from us farmers!"

Ethan laughed sheepishly.

Because when the word "voting rights" appeared, an image immediately appeared in his mind of two old men in their seventies beating their dogs' brains out for a job.

In his view, this is the best demonstration of "voting rights".

Thomas obviously didn't mean that. He put his hands behind his back and continued, "Although the general election is far away from us, the local election is very close to us."

"Whenever there's a vacancy in a local council seat, the guy who wants to get in needs our votes."

"And every time this happens, they need farmers like us who can provide a lot of jobs to society."

Thomas paused here.

Turning his head to look at Ethan, he believed that his child had understood.

And when their eyes met, Ethan also laughed.

Pursing his lips, he said, "So, this is what my sister said, why no one has ever come to trouble us? Because you have raised a group of people, and these people all have families."

"Yeah!" Ethan's words made Thomas laugh. He said, "Ethan, you are right! This is the reward we receive after providing jobs to the society!"

"We have seventy-six permanent workers in our house!"

"Behind every worker, there is a complete family!"

"We calculated based on an average of five people per family, and seventy-six positions represent three hundred and eighty votes!"

"And considering their simple propaganda, the actual number of people who could be affected is definitely in the thousands!"

"For a state election, this amount of votes may not make a difference."

“For the whole of San Jose, this number of votes can’t change anything.”

"But if it is placed in the area where we live——"

"Then we can decide a person's future!"

"And once the person we elect takes office, no one will bother me anymore!"

"The respected congressman will seek re-election! He will seek promotion!"

"As long as he thinks the future is bright, he will help me deal with the troubles!"

"In the end, whether he goes up or down, it has nothing to do with me, because as long as the system is inconvenient, the position of councillor is still there, then I can grow navel oranges here in peace!"

Thomas looked at Ethan seriously and said, "Oh, my child, now you know why I think your factory will have problems, right? When I say problems, I don't mean that the employees will make trouble, but that your way of employing people is bound to cause problems for the factory."

"You hired hippies to lower costs, and hippies are a group that is recognized by society as difficult to discipline. In this case, even if they have the right to vote, the legislators will ignore you because they don't believe you have such influence."

"But I'm different." "I don't use MXG because many black workers don't have the right to vote."

"I don't use African Americans because they won't vote with me."

"I only use my own people!"

"Because they are the only ones who will be influenced by their own kind!"

"And if you had hired this kind of people like me from the beginning, then I believe that the police officer who emphasized the economy with you would have decisively arrested the traffickers and troublemakers before you knew anything!"

"And then throw it to the prosecutor!"

"The prosecutor will file a lawsuit as soon as possible!"

"They will let you fully feel their sincerity!"

After hearing these words, Ethan had a deep admiration for Thomas, or rather, the grandpa he had never met!

Allowing the people they employ to become the voting power that brings left and right legislators into power?

This is crazy——

Is this something that someone who hasn't read much could think of?

The direction of this involvement is not business at all, but ZZ!
At the same time, Ethan had a new doubt, "But Thomas..."

“How can you guarantee that they will vote with you?”

"and……"

"Your hiring method...will it reduce the orchard's profits to zero?"

When these words appeared, Thomas immediately burst out laughing.

He patted Ethan on the shoulder and led the way down the hill.

He returned to the orange loading point and shouted to the guys who were still resting in the house, "Is it comfortable in there?"

"Comfortable——" a uniform voice came out.

"Then can you work?" Thomas shouted again: "If you don't work, we may not be able to deliver 30 trucks before dark! I want to pay you overtime wages, but I want you to go home and eat more!"

After these words were spoken, the workers inside immediately jumped out.

"Stop pushing, stop pushing!"

"I'm coming!"

While he was muttering, an old man in his sixties brought a straw hat to Thomas.

"Put it on, Thomas. It's too sunny."

Thomas took it with a smile and thanked him at the same time: "Oh, you are still good to me."

Then, he casually asked, "By the way, if I remember correctly, we have known each other for thirty years?"

The old man was stunned by this, and then asked, "You were born in 1930, right?"

"Correct."

"Then we have known each other for forty-six years." The old man laughed. "We have known each other for as many years as you are this year, because I have been working with your father before you were born."

"Oh yeah! I forgot about this!" Thomas suddenly realized, slapped his forehead and said, "You watched me grow up! And then you watched my child grow up!"

"Yes, yes..." The old man nodded with a smile, and at the same time turned his gaze to Ethan, "Time flies so fast. When I was young, you, Thomas, were just a child, but in the blink of an eye, little Ethan has become a celebrity."

"But no matter how fast time passes, we are still the same as before... Thomas, if your father hadn't helped me, our family might have starved to death on Black Thursday, but now, my grandson has joined the army... And you are also a good person. After so many years, when many farms have been using mechanical tools and many orchards have reduced their staff, you are still willing to hire us..."

"You Johnsons are all good people..."

As the old man recalled the past with emotion, Ethan also began to look around.

When he found out that the workers working in his orchard were all elderly, at least in their forties, Ethan immediately understood why Thomas was able to ensure that these people would vote with him. He also understood why Thomas's orchard could only earn $30,000 to $50,000 a year.

Because in America, not everyone can enjoy government relief!

Not everyone is willing to wallow in the mud and live their life in a daze!

There are still people who want to get married and have children, and there are still people who want to escape from poverty!
When Thomas, or the Johnson family, lends a helping hand to these people, they are naturally grateful!

Maybe every time they vote, they really don’t know whether the person they choose is good or bad, but they also know very well that as long as they follow Thomas to vote, their lives will definitely not change!
This……

For ordinary people, it is the real and best choice!
After a brief chat with the old man, Thomas returned to his job.

Ethan picked up a cloth bag, hung it around his waist, and went into the woods to pick navel oranges.

Whenever the workers saw him, they would greet him with a smile and ask him why he came to help.

For such questions, Ethan would smile and say that he had time. As he answered, the workers showed envious smiles on their faces. While working, they complained to Ethan about how "disobedient" their children were. At the same time, they said that Thomas was very happy, raising a girl who went to college and a son who could make money...

By about four o'clock in the evening, all thirty trucks of navel oranges had been loaded.

The workers waved goodbye to Thomas, and Thomas waved back at them with a smile.

When he turned his gaze to Ethan again, he also said: "Ethan, I have never been to school, but I know one thing, the most valuable thing in our family is this hundred acres of land."

"As long as the land remains, our family will never be poor."

"So I don't care how much I earn, as long as the money I earn every year is enough to cover my expenses and there is some surplus, that's enough."

"My father once told me that it doesn't matter if he can't become rich, as long as he has land, his descendants will always be rich. It doesn't matter that I have never been to school and don't know how to run a business. As long as I don't invest the money I earn indiscriminately, but continue to buy some land and ensure that the land is not abandoned, the next generation will always have a chance."

"So, I've always told you that if you want to study, then study. If you don't want to study, then come and look after the garden with me. As long as we continue to run the business like this, there will always be someone in our family who is willing to study and has a business mind."

"At that time, these lands will be able to play the greatest value."

"Until then, these workers are our greatest asset."

“Because they can help us keep these lands.”

"I think this principle is also applicable to your company."

“Because your game company won’t pursue extreme profits now.”

“I don’t think it’s necessary to pursue extreme profits.”

"Because when you are able to convert the job you give to society into the right to vote, you will be holding the sharpest gun in our country!"

“These expenses can help you do better business!”

“If you can create a hundred such jobs, you’re an excellent entrepreneur.”

"If you could create a thousand of these positions, you'd have a glimpse into the state legislature."

"And if you can provide 10,000, 100,000, or even 1 million such positions..."

Thomas paused.

He smiled and said nothing.

Ethan shook his head with emotion.

Because he knew that what Thomas said was right!

The most valuable thing in the entire house is the more than 100 acres of land in Silicon Valley!
Compared with the continuous appreciation of real estate, all the crops here can be said to be not profitable!

Even if a lot of labor costs are deducted, it can never compare to the appreciation of the land!
Then in this case...

Keeping the land is indeed the best option.

Secondly, just make a little money!

"Oh Thomas... you are right..." Ethan nodded with emotion, "I admit that not asking for your opinion on building the factory was my biggest mistake..."

"Oh—my child—there is nothing wrong—"

Thomas opened his arms, hugged Ethan in his arms, patted his back, and said, "As I said before, everyone has a time when they are young, and everyone has a process of growing up..."

"Before my father taught me this, I also thought that saving costs was a good way because it would allow me to earn more."

"And you know how my father taught me this lesson?"

"Because of some things, I was very dissatisfied with a worker because he had some disabilities and worked slower than normal people. He was just slow, not lazy. He was very serious about his work. But I felt that this was not okay, so I fired him without telling my father."

"When my father found out, he was furious. He grabbed my collar and dragged me to the worker's home. Then I found out that the worker's weekly salary was the only expense for his family of five."

"Although they can live on relief, stable jobs mean they don't have to keep running around for relief, because a church won't distribute relief every day. Only by constantly changing venues can they meet their living needs. At the same time, if they want to eat, they have to queue up with their families."

"We give him a job, which is equivalent to giving him stability. His wife can find some odd jobs, and his children can help out a little."

“But if I don’t give them jobs, they may never get back on their feet.”

"That day, my father asked me to apologize to them."

"I did."

"I cried and begged them to forgive me."

"And then, among the twenty or so people who are delivering goods to you now, two are his children, and one of his grandsons is very smart and does well in studies. I got him a letter of recommendation and sent him to Harker Middle School. Other than that, I did not give them any financial help."

"That child was indeed provided for by the whole family, and he is also the hope of the whole family."

"And you know, last year, when the Snake game you and Evelyn made became a big hit, and I sent them some gifts to celebrate, what did those two brothers say?"

"They asked me, Boss, your child has become a well-known figure, so will he start a company like Atari? If so, what kind of professionals will he need?"

"They want the child to choose the major you want when applying for college, because they think it won't be wrong to follow you..."

"Of course, I didn't reply to him, because I haven't received any education myself. I just told them that I will tell them about this matter when I have time..."

"It is for these reasons that I can call on this group of people when you need a driver you can trust."

"I have to thank my father for this, right?"

"If it weren't for his education, I think I would be worried about finding a job now."

Thomas paused.

He patted Ethan's back gently, as if he was reminiscing about the past, but more like he was lamenting about the future.

Ethan also felt a lump in his throat.

Before, when he went to visit Nintendo in Japan, he was still sighing that Yamauchi Hiroshi was the winner in life.

What you want is what you want.

But now I see...

He ignored a lot of people.

Ethan blew his nose and felt a little regretful at that moment.

If he had not taken it for granted to follow Atari's model when building the factory and had not done his best to cut costs, perhaps now... the situation would be much better.

"So, everything is too late, right?" Ethan said with some regret.

He felt that Thomas said so much because he hoped that he would pay attention in the future.

And his words prompted Thomas to ask, "Oh Ethan - why do you feel that way? Why do you have such thoughts?"

"Because I've already recruited those hippies into the factory," Ethan said, "and fired a few of the 'troublemakers.'"

"When these things happen, we just have to accept them, right?"

"…" These words made Thomas stunned for a moment.

Then Thomas, who was hugging Ethan, laughed.

"Oh - child - there is a remedy for everything -"

“There are no unsolvable problems in this world, only fools who want to procrastinate.”

“If you want to fix something, you can do it now.”

'? ? ? '

These words made Ethan raise his head.

When he stared at Thomas' face and gave him a puzzled look, Thomas did not explain, but loosened his arms, untied a bunch of keys from his waist and threw them over.

"Go and help me drive the Ford that's parked at the door."

At the same time, he pointed to the twenty boxes of navel oranges left on the ground and said, "Next, help me load them into the car."

"I'm going to call Linda and tell her I won't be home for dinner tonight."

“Oh, by the way, you also have to find a way to tell Evelin that you won’t be going back tonight.”

"Because you're going with me soon."

"Come with me to receive the last gift your father left you..."

Note: ① Nolan Bushnell did indeed take a cigarette, and he took his subordinates with him, as revealed in the biography of Steve Jobs. ② The way congressmen are elected is different in each state, and I checked in California, they have a free election, and those who have the right to vote can vote freely.

PS, it’s available at night and I’m almost done.


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(End of this chapter)