I saw everything

Chapter 385 Collapse
The fall of the International Space Station not only cost Northern Union an old space facility, but more importantly, it caused a collapse of faith.

Building a sense of identity and superiority often requires decades of consistent effort.

Destruction, however, does not take long; it can be done in just a few days.

At this moment, many people within Beilian are beginning to worry about Beilian's future, and are also deeply disappointed.

Of course, those who are relatively clear-headed are ultimately a minority.

At this time, the mainstream news media in Beilian were filled with the tone of utter triumph.

The New York Times: "The International Space Station's service life is nearing its end; a crash is only a matter of time..."

The Mirror: "This was an accident, and a painful lesson."

The Times: "The fall of the International Space Station is also the launch of the new International Space Station."

European Union Daily: "Let us carry on the spirit of the departed and continue to explore the stars for humanity."

CNN: "Although the International Space Station has crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, the spirit of cooperation it fostered will forever be etched in the hearts of everyone in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization."

The mainstream media in the North Union focused their reporting primarily on how the accident occurred, as well as various prayers and commemorations.

All parties in the Northern Union have remained silent about the three astronauts who sacrificed their lives, and their families have also been silenced. There is very little information about them on their internal network.

Meanwhile, the private lives of several famous Hollywood stars were also exposed, quickly attracting a lot of attention.

Although intelligent people saw that the Northern Alliance was covering up and downplaying the matter, most of them chose to remain silent. After all, the person was already dead and the International Space Station had crashed. What they said would be useless and would only backfire.

However, these people's sense of identification with the Northern Union is rapidly declining, and some have already made up their minds to leave and start a new life in Australia.

However, most ordinary people in the Northern Union did not pay much attention to the International Space Station crash.

On the one hand, the "happy education" approach has led to a low level of cognitive ability among many ordinary people.

On the other hand, the economic problems of the Northern Union are now more complicated.

After losing Asia as its largest supplier of industrial goods, prices of everyday consumer goods skyrocketed across the Northern Union.

Although America, the EU, and Russia are all working hard to revive their industries, industry is not something that can be restored immediately with just a few words.

Munich, a city in Western Europe.

Simmons, who just graduated this year, is shopping in a discount supermarket with his girlfriend Hill.

Looking at the goods on the shelves, Simmons frowned: "Damn it... the prices have gone up again."

He looked at the ordinary set of clothes in front of him, but the price was at least three times that of 2028.

“Yes! It’s really too expensive.” Hill put the clothes back on the shelf. Although she wanted to buy a new outfit, she felt that she could wear her old clothes for another year when faced with this price.

Simmons was very distressed: "Without cheap goods from Seres and Asia, our standard of living will drop significantly!"

"Didn't they say that the Northern Union was already reviving its light industry?" Hill was a little confused.

“Heh…” Simmons shook his head with a cold laugh: “You can’t trust what those politicians say at all.”

Simons, who studied economics in college, has some understanding of economic development.

The current economic problems of the Northern Union cannot be solved simply by restoring industry to complete economic transformation.

In particular, labor-intensive industries like light industry are heavily reliant on basic heavy industry and labor costs.

These two points are precisely the weaknesses of the Northern Alliance.

Not to mention the high welfare standards of Northern Europe, even in Western and Southern Europe and North America, there are actually not many people who are truly willing to work as low-paid sewing machines.

Even though Amelica fully supported Mexico's development of light industry in an effort to revive it, a rapid recovery was still not possible.

After all, industrial companies, in order to make a profit, will not sell clothes at low profit margins, even if they are produced in Mexico.

The Asian Union and the Northern Union are now irreconcilable enemies, with their markets mutually closed off. The Northern Union is a developed region, so its wage levels certainly cannot be too low.

For example, Mexico's requirements for joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization certainly have their own specific demands.

The biggest problem for the Northern Alliance right now is its internal issues; the Asian Alliance is a secondary problem.

After all, no matter how powerful the Asian Union is, it cannot directly affect the internal affairs of the Northern Union when both sides are blocking each other.

Many European and American entrepreneurs, seeing the absence of competition from Asia, became extremely arrogant, resorting to various tactics to drive up the prices of all kinds of goods.

Without a thorough social transformation, the various factions within the Northern Alliance are deeply entrenched, making it impossible to change even the slightest rule.

This is like a huge mountain of crap code; it's fine if you don't move it, but if you do, it crashes, breaks down, and becomes chaotic.

Now, the Northern Union is not just a bunch of messy codes like America, but also includes the EU and Russia.

While a phone can be folded into three sections, a mountain of code can't be folded into three sections—that would be truly hopeless.

Amelika wants to do something, which involves not only resolving internal differences but also considering the attitudes of the other two parties.

Similarly, the EU and Russia face the same problem.

It can only be said that their alliance was almost entirely fruitless.

Not only did it fail to achieve the effect of 1+1+1=3, but it also reduced the overall available strength by hindering each other and compromising.

Sometimes, a bad teammate is more terrifying than a formidable opponent.

Just like the current surge in prices of everyday consumer goods in the EU, they are still determined to maintain internal tariffs.

You read that right, the EU is still maintaining relatively high tariffs on America, Russia, and Mexico.

Emilia and Lucia did the same thing.

The Asian Union simply watched the Northern Union quietly, without taking any action.

At this point, inaction is the best option, because the opponent will make their own team collapse.

Taking too many actions at this time would have the opposite effect, causing the various parties in the Northern Alliance to quickly put aside their differences and unite to fight against the Asian Alliance.

This is also a major reason why the Asian Federation has rarely commented on the Northern Federation in mainstream news media in recent years. Even though online experts analyze current affairs in great detail every day, the official media remains unmoved.

Ultimately, the Asian Union has already seen through the internal situation of the Northern Union, and now there is no need to take the initiative; all that is needed is to leave everything to time.

Of course, the Asian Union adopted a relatively proactive and positive strategy towards the Southern Alliance.

For example, in the recent Little Venice incident, supplies were continuously poured in, and new proxies were supported.

...

Simmons and Hill browsed around the discount supermarket and bought some canned goods and cheap ingredients.

Looking at the bill in his hand, Simmons couldn't help but scratch his head. He had spent 214 euros on groceries for about a week.

The two had just graduated, and their combined after-tax salary was only around 4800 euros.

Monthly food expenses would require at least €900, which is barely achievable if you don't eat out. If you're sharing an apartment, the monthly cost would be €850.

For everyday consumer goods, the monthly cost is approximately 500 to 700 euros.

In addition, there are expenses for water, electricity, gas, communication, and attendance.

Monthly expenses amount to approximately 3500 euros.

It seems that there is still a surplus of around 1300 euros.

However, this was the case for Simmons and Hill, who gave up other expenses, such as reducing their clothing purchase frequency to one set per quarter and not daring to buy skincare and cosmetic products.

At the same time, the food they buy is relatively cheap, their housing conditions are also relatively poor, and they dare not buy too many household appliances.

Basically, it's about consuming for survival.

This situation is very common throughout the Northern Union, especially among the lower-class people who have no other choice but to plan their lives this way.

While this frugal lifestyle reduces a lot of consumption, it also creates a vicious cycle, namely, that domestic consumption cannot be boosted.

For example, in the clothing industry, although the EU's clothing industry has developed to some extent in recent years, the domestic clothing production volume has increased by at least three times compared to 2028.

However, per capita clothing consumption in the EU is still expected to decline by about 77% compared to 2028.

The days when Europeans would wear the same clothes for a few weeks and then throw them away are over.

Simmons and Hill are like that; they've worn the same outfit for over a year and plan to continue wearing it, but they feel that clothes are too expensive now and it hurts to spend money on them.

Of course, in Germanic terms, this is how the people of Europe consciously implement environmental protection concepts.

How can it not be environmentally friendly?
Per capita consumption of various daily consumer goods has decreased by 40% to 60%, almost halved, which has made an indelible contribution to curbing global warming.

Like India in South Asia, India has made a significant contribution to curbing global climate deterioration by consuming its own population.

This is the best way to achieve environmental protection.

Although, if someone were to interview Simmons now and ask him whether he thinks the current lifestyle is environmentally friendly, he would probably swear and curse.

He still misses the good old days in Europe.

Actually, as a native of the United States, Simmons wasn't too disappointed. After all, their standard of living was barely enough to get by, but it could never compare to that of Northern Europe.

The real psychological gap is in the Nordic countries.

In the era of deglobalization, the impact on Northern Europe is that they have lost the Asian market.

Of course, this is not actually fatal.

What truly breached the defenses of Northern Europe was the rise in global sea levels, which threatened to submerge their coastal lowlands.

Meanwhile, with Lucia and Amelia becoming part of the Northern Union, and these two major regions being core export areas for energy and minerals, the Nordic industries in oil, gas, and minerals have been greatly affected.

After all, the companies in the Northern Union aren't stupid. Why would they buy expensive Nordic oil and gas when they have cheap Russian oil and gas available?

Under pressure from all sides, incomes in Nordic countries have decreased significantly, and the previously high welfare levels have had to be reduced.

With welfare cuts, wages declining, and consumer prices soaring, things are tough in Northern Europe now too.

However, Northern Europe is actually in a much better position than the Low Countries of Western Europe, which have lost a large portion of their territory due to their low elevation.

For example, in the Netherlands, a third of their territory is now submerged by the sea.

The problems among various parties in the Northern Alliance have led to a continuous accumulation of internal discontent. Once it reaches a certain critical point, it is estimated that it could blow the entire Northern Alliance to smithereens.

After all, we are all working together to make things better, not worse.

The current state of affairs will surely breed resentment among many people who were used to a comfortable life.

This is also human nature.

From frugality to luxury is easy, from luxury to frugality.

Simmons and his companion carried their own small plastic bags and walked back to the apartment.

I just arrived at the apartment entrance.

"Simmons? He just got back?"

Simmons saw his neighbor next door pulling a suitcase, looking like he was about to go on a long trip, and asked with a smile, "Yes! I just went to buy some things, Carl, are you going out?"

“No, my immigration application has been approved,” Carl replied with a smile.

"Oh? Immigration? Where do you want to immigrate to?"

“Of course we’ll go to the Asian Union, or Alicia? Don’t be ridiculous.” Karl laughed.

Simmons patted the other person on the shoulder: "Congratulations."

"Good luck to you two too, goodbye." Carl said goodbye to the two of them, and was pulled away by his suitcase.

Watching Carl's departing figure, Simmons' eyes held a hint of envy: "I should have known better than to study economics."

"Heh, what else can you study if not economics?" Hill said with a look of disdain.

Simmons scratched his cheek awkwardly.

He wasn't actually complaining about his economics major; rather, he felt a bit resentful about not being able to immigrate.

Because the Asian Union has strict restrictions on foreign immigrants, it is difficult for ordinary people to get approved for the application. However, science and engineering talents receive bonus points, especially those famous experts, professors, and scientists. As long as they apply and do not have any other negative behaviors, they can basically get approved.

His neighbor, Carl, was a PhD, primarily researching astrophysics.

However, economics and finance, which are generally considered versatile majors, are actually a disadvantage for Asia Union.

After all, Asia Union needs science and engineering talents, not financial speculators who come to cause trouble.

While it is true that it is a generalization to consider all people majoring in finance and economics in Europe and America as financial speculators.

But this is also a fixed impression of the Asian Union.

This is actually an unspoken rule: the Asian Federation doesn't want liberal arts professionals from Europe and America to come, lest they bring too many foreign cultural influences.

In particular, the bizarre new cultures that Europe and America have developed in recent years are a typical example of reverse human evolution.

Therefore, the Immigration Department of the Asian Union has specific internal approval regulations, one of which is a rather rigid restriction that liberal arts talents from Europe and America are not accepted at all.

In this way, a large number of opportunists trying to infiltrate the Asian Union were filtered out.

Although some escaped the net, these people are only a very small minority and therefore cannot cause any significant trouble.

There was no other way; the Asian Union found the new culture of Europe and America utterly disgusting. Since they couldn't physically eliminate it, they could only keep their distance.

Since the world is now divided into three parts, the Asian Federation doesn't have many scruples in many matters. It openly tells immigrants from Europe and America that they do not accept liberal arts talents.

(End of this chapter)