Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 296 The Quiet but Noisy Second Half of the Year
Perhaps it was because too many things happened in the first half of 1979, Oracle's sudden attack, Hollywood's confrontation, the stubborn adherence to CD standards... this series of conflicts made everyone mentally exhausted, so when the second half of the year officially arrived, some of the tired people calmed down a lot.

After discussing cooperation with Spielberg and Lucas, Ethan finally had a life of a cup of tea, a pack of cigarettes and a newspaper to read. While he was basking in the sun and reading all kinds of social news, the world of all kinds of things made him see the diversity of human species.

First, three days after Spielberg and Lucas left, Universal Pictures' parent company MCA and IBM officially announced the establishment of a joint venture called Disco-Vision Associates.

They wanted to develop a cheaper and better video disc and disc player.

Although American Music did not reveal its true intentions, everyone knew that this cooperation was a symbol of revenge. When Philips obtained the CD research and development data from American Music through deception and kicked them away, the thing American Music wanted to do most was to stab Philips to death.

As for which combination of Philips and Sony, or American Music and IBM is stronger?
No one knows about this.

However, judging from the current situation, Philips and Sony, which have already achieved some phased results, have an advantage in this war. They should be able to launch their own commercial products before MCA and IBM.

And for Ethan...

“This is our ally!”

He smiled and shook his head.

"A few months ago, everyone was sitting together and eating in harmony. A few months later, when Spielberg decided to go it alone and favored us, this group of people suddenly stopped pretending."

"A businessman is a businessman..."

"What kind of affection is there?"

In Ethan's view, this move by American Music was not only a declaration of war against Philips, but also a strong protest against his decision to support Spielberg.

If he doesn't support Spielberg's independence, then Spielberg will have no choice but to turn around and embrace Universal.

This will bring great benefits to Universal.

But once he supports Spielberg, it will become very difficult for Universal to get Spielberg's projects in the future, which will cause Universal to lose a lot of US dollars.

As a result, a secret response emerged.

And this...

"Ah--"

Ethan closed the newspaper in his hand and picked up the phone beside him.

While putting his feet on the desk, he also instructed Ballmer on the other end of the phone: "Call David Geffen and tell him to do his best in the negotiation with American Music."

"Now, it is American Music that wants the right to host Michael Jackson's solo concert."

"We don't want to sell, okay?"

"Okay, boss." Although Ballmer didn't know why his boss changed his attitude, what did this have to do with him? Since the boss had made the decision, he would just do it. Moreover, Ethan had proved countless times in the past few years that his choice was right.

After hanging up the phone and throwing the Los Angeles Times aside, Ethan picked up other newspapers and continued reading.

After the American music secretly disgusted people, on September 23, another piece of news related to Ethan caught his eye. Because the Three Mile Island accident attracted the attention of the people of the United States, the evacuation of nearly one million people had a huge impact on the residents near the nuclear power plant. Therefore, the anti-nuclear organization that was born since the emergence of nuclear power held a rally in New York.

They organized 200,000 people for an anti-nuclear protest march.

There are even quite a few celebrities among them.

People like Ralph Nader and Jane Fonda attended, and many of them gave speeches.

The protesting group demanded that the federal government immediately shut down the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant and stop its crazy promotion of the dangerous global nuclear proliferation, including but not limited to stopping the construction contracting and funding of the Neon Nuclear Power Plant. They also demanded that the federal government gradually shut down all nuclear power plants in the United States starting in 1980 to ensure that America is denuclearized before 1990.

In the eyes of nuclear energy supporters, this demand is simply nonsense. In the eyes of neutral people, this one-size-fits-all idea is also a bit extreme. But in Ethan's opinion...

Special code!
How did he get dragged into this mess?

That's right!

When Ethan picked up the newspaper and glanced through its contents with a curious mindset, he suddenly discovered that his name was also in the news report.
This fact made him stunned instantly!
But after he read it carefully, he was suddenly speechless.

Almost everyone mentioned his name during their speeches. They placed the Game of Destiny and the NFL's emergency plan on a pedestal and denigrated the unfavorable responses of the local and federal governments, trying to prove that the development of nuclear power was not a national need but a capitalist's pursuit of profit.

When the formula that nuclear energy is a scam appeared, the voices opposing the construction of new nuclear power plants and demanding the demolition of existing nuclear power plants became increasingly loud and intensified. For Ethan, these problems...

He doesn't want to bother with this kind of crap at all!

Now, if he is against nuclear weapons, he is standing against the development of society.

Because the development of nuclear power can indeed bring convenience to people's lives.

Apart from anything else, it is indeed a clean energy source in terms of the environment.

And if you are not anti-nuclear?

Got it!

This will put him on the opposite side of public opinion!

Then in this case...

You must be distracted!

So Ethan called Ballmer again and said, "I'm not feeling well. I need to go to New Zealand for recuperation. The chairman will go with me. I'll leave the company to you. Don't look for me unless necessary."

The inexplicable arrangement left the bald man confused, but when Ethan took Evelyn away overnight, many media took the initiative to contact Destiny Game. They wanted to interview Ethan Jones and ask him about his views on the incident. They also said that now all anti-nuclear people have regarded him as a staunch anti-nuclear fighter and want him to lead the people to defeat the evil nuclear forces.

When this inquiry came up, Ballmer's eyes suddenly went dark.

It was not until then that he realized what a mess his boss had left for him.

Just when he was frowning and didn't know what to do, Ethan, who arrived in New Zealand, was relieved. This also made Evelyn, who escaped with him, very curious.

"Ethan, how did you know that the media would come to interview you? Because according to your habit of refusing interviews before, they shouldn't waste their time on you this time."

This question made Ethan roll his eyes and said, "Because those uncrowned kings have suffered losses at my hands many times! Now, as long as they conduct a public interview, they can put me on the spot! As long as I refuse to answer, they can publish an article saying that my views are different from what the public wants!"

"This is a good opportunity to get revenge on me!"

"How could they miss it!"

"especially--"

"CBS hates me right now!"

"Their subsidiary just lost Michael Jackson!"

What the hell is the media?

Ethan knew it well.

Cutting out the beginning and the end, confusing right and wrong, maliciously provoking conflict, attracting attention, and putting money above all else, that is what media professionals in the capitalist society do every day.

What, someone doesn't believe it?

Just look through the reports about guns hidden in hospitals.

Therefore, when Ethan found out that these guys he had been arguing with were likely to attack him with the anti-nuclear issue, he ran away without thinking, because before you truly control a media outlet, all confrontations can only be temporary, and if you can't spray them randomly, you can only run away.

As for what you mean by continuing to quote the Bible?
You say I’m young, I haven’t received higher education, and I don’t understand?
Isn't that just being a target?

You know, a few months ago, he supported the immediate evacuation of people near Three Mile Island!
However, although this sudden uproar gave Ethan a headache, the entanglement with it did not last long, because when October 1st came, the bigger problem directly suppressed the anti-nuclear voice. The Panama Canal incident, which had been noisy for several years, finally came to an end. From October 1st, the Panama Canal no longer existed in the world as American territory.

This fact once again reminds the North American people of the villains who decided to sell their country a few years ago!

The shouts of "Step down! Step down! Step down!" resounded throughout America in an instant!

However, before these people could finish shouting, on October 6, the Federal Reserve added fuel to the fire.

The Federal Reserve decided to change its interest rate target policy to a money supply target policy and raise the discount rate from 11 percent to a historic 12 percent. At the same time, in the future, when banks borrow from the Federal Reserve, they will need to maintain 8 percent reserves.

What does this news mean for the general public who have not yet received higher education?
They simply don't understand.

But for the elites on Wall Street, these three decisions are simply life-threatening!

The first policy means that in the future, the Fed will pay more attention to the growth rate of money supply rather than short-term interest rates, which means that the Fed is determined to fight inflation.

This seems to be good news, but if you combine it with the last two points...'The Fed does not focus on short-term interest rates', that is the key point the Fed wants to make.

Because the meaning of the latter two policies is very simple: the borrowing costs of commercial banks will increase, which will further increase the loan interest rates provided by banks to enterprises and individuals.

To put it more simply...

That is, the business that is already difficult to do will become even more difficult in the future.

Interest rates, which are already unaffordable, will become even more so in the future.

The sudden appearance of these three moves caused all major financial newspapers and business newspapers to curse loudly, saying that the Federal Reserve was going to send all manufacturing and agriculture to hell!

What's more, some industry associations even went directly to Washington in a group and demanded to meet with Emperor Renzong to protest against the Federal Reserve's stupid move and wanted Emperor Renzong to urge the Federal Reserve to immediately cancel that outrageous decision!

It’s a pity that Renzong has no time to deal with these things at the moment.

Because he was discussing with David Rockefeller, the brother of Lawrence Rockefeller and the CEO of Chase Bank, whether to bring the cancer-stricken king of a country in the eastern Mediterranean to North America for the most advanced treatment. When they made the official decision on October 20th...

On November 4, 1979, Tehran bombed.

When American citizens are detained abroad, even if God descends...

Then there is no hope of helping Renzong to ascend the Great Hall of the Buddha again!
This series of "accidents" made Ethan, who had returned to California, feel a little emotional. Before, he only knew from the teacher in the classroom why Renzong failed to be re-elected. Now, the angry shouts in his ears made him understand why Lingzong was able to ascend the throne with an overwhelming victory.

In the current environment, all the American people want to do is vent!

Whoever can help them vent their emotions can get on stage!

As for what his abilities are?

Who cares?

This was indeed the case. On November 7, members of the Le Zong family were the first to come forward and express their intention to challenge Ren Zong and compete for the nomination of the Donkey Party's candidate for the presidency in 1980.

On November 13, the former governor of California also announced that he would run in next year's election.

"I'll put an end to the double-digit inflation Jimmy created!"

"I will increase defense spending! Restore America's place in the world!"

"I'll lower taxes! Liberalize the economy!"

"Right now, our country needs a new government, a government that can bring back the American dream! A government that can bring back the American dream! A government that can make America great again!"

"So, here I am."

"Make America Great Again!"

…………

"Jimmy is done."

While Ethan was watching the former California governor's speech, Grand Master Barbara Babcock called and said, "Everyone is pessimistic about his re-election right now."

“No one thought Jimmy could get re-elected.”

"The next president must be from the Elephant Party."

The straightforward words did not arouse Ethan's surprise. This was not only because he had the memory of his past life and knew that the Grand Master's words were true, but also because he knew that for ordinary people, the ownership of the Grand Commander might be a mystery, but for the people behind the scenes...

Who will win and who will lose, if nothing unexpected happens, can be guessed almost exactly.

But even so, Ethan was still a little curious.

"Barbara, I want to ask you a very stupid question."

"You said."

"Since everyone knows that Jimmy has no hope of re-election, will you still support him?"

"meeting."

"Why?" Ethan was a little confused, and this question had always puzzled him in his previous life and had not been solved. "Since he has no advantage, why don't you support someone else?"

"Oh - Ethan - you're right, your question is really stupid!" Barbara Babcock laughed on the other end of the phone and said, "The question is actually very simple. Loyalty is not absolute, then it is absolutely disloyal. So even if we know that Jimmy has no hope of winning, we have to do our best to help him, even if we all fall into hell together in the end."

"When a party has an incumbent president who is seeking re-election, supporting him is a sign of loyalty to the party. If the party chooses another candidate, it may lead to the party's split, which will directly weaken the competitiveness of the entire party in the general election."

"Besides that, there is another issue, which is name recognition and media attention. The current president is a familiar face to both the public and the media, which allows him to be discussed by the public, even if it is a bad topic. This is something that most new candidates do not have."

"When a strange face appears in front of the public, the public will try to vote for him only after they get to know him first, and this is actually a very long process. Therefore, every time there is a general election, no matter which side it is, there will be some familiar faces participating in the election. In other words, many guys who want to ascend to the throne will try to show their faces in front of the public in various ways from the moment they have a dream in their hearts, so that everyone can know them."

"For example..."

“The former governor of California who just announced his candidacy?”

"He got a lot of media attention through you."

"Especially the phrase Make America Great Again?"

"You seem to have said something similar before?"

“This is a huge plus!”

"It's a pity that Jimmy can't shout."

"Besides, even if he shouted, the people nowadays wouldn't believe it..."

Ethan understood.

At the same time, he also guessed the purpose of the Archmage's call.

"Barbara~"

"Ok?"

"Welcome home."

"Oh - thank you - Ethan -"

There was a hearty laugh from the other end of the phone.

Since everyone knows that good guy Jimmy has no hope of re-election, the rest of his term will be the last time for his friends in Washington.

Normally, with the end of a career, everyone should go back to their own homes, but many people are unwilling to give up their hard-earned opportunities and want to use their connections to find their next job in advance.

Some people may want to stay in Washington.

Some people do not want to return to their old jobs and want to find a temporary place to stay.

Some people want to experience the beauty of a revolving door.

And Barbara...

In the three years since she left, Destiny Game has grown from a young company in an emerging industry to a top company among the Fortune 500, and this is the best home for her.

After chatting with Barbara, the cold wind of winter finally reached the Bay Area. Unlike the busy last year, since they did not launch any products during the Christmas period this year, Ethan gave everyone in the company an early holiday after ensuring that all major stores were stocked.

Destiny Game issued an announcement that it will officially close on December 20th and officially resume business on January 11th, for a three-week break. Any problems that arise during this period will have to be postponed.

For special circumstances, contact Steve Ballmer directly.

Yep, this guy is an all-around fighter.

After arranging everything, Ethan went on vacation with his family.

This year's destination is Australia, which is as warm as spring.

Note: ①Disco-Vision Associates does exist. In reality, MCA cooperated with IBM in order to confront Philips. They also released their own DVDs but were unsuccessful. ②Ralph Nader, the father of the modern consumer movement, the most difficult lawyer in the history of the United States, wrote "Unsafe at Any Speed", and fought against General Motors for eight years, which directly prompted the United States to enact the "National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act". ③The slogan of MAGA was indeed shouted by Ling Zongxian.

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(End of this chapter)