Yao Yuan awoke to Barbie’s voice. He looked at his watch and it showed 2.30 pm. After a simple bathroom ritual, he left for a 4th floor conference room to join the discussion on the Hope’s external cabin.
After several months of construction, the first external cabin was finally ready. Its size was 1/10 of the Hope’s 6th floor biomes. The space would be perfect for a cattle farm, which could increase the Hope’s daily milk production by 2 to 3 times.
However, due to the wide range of products processed by the Hope, its Department of Agriculture had birthed many sub-committees. There were committees for vegetable products, wheat products, meat products, animal by-products, and luxury products like coffee, cocoa, as well as tobacco, and every single one of them was vying for this valuable space.
The discussion was thus sidetracked by intra-departmental politics and sarcastic barbs. This was Yao Yuan’s first taste of western policy-making, where each committee had their own say to the matter. For example, representatives from the staple food committee proclaimed that the Hope’s food storage was still below the safety line, so they would face food shortage if there was calamity.
The committee for luxury products, on the other hand, invited an economist to give a speech on the negative impacts a decrease in luxury products would have on the Hope’s overall economy… The discussion dragged on with each committee plying for the spot until Yao Yuan dictatorially decided to use the external cabin to farm animal by-products like milk and eggs. Yao Yuan sighed inwardly, knowing that chaos was going to repeat when the next cabin was ready.
The discussion concluded at around 4.30 PM. As Yao Yuan exited the room, he murmured, "Goodness, Barbie, don’t you westerners have a sense of organizational discipline? But… then again, I’ve witnessed the presence of such discipline working as a company headhunter."
Barbie covered her mouth and giggled. "The difference between the two is obvious. There is oftentimes no worker protection when you work for a company. The higher-ups could willy-nilly let a general worker or even a manager go. One could complain, but that would normally be to no avail. The best you can do is accept the severance deal and quickly look for your next meal ticket.
"A governmental posting is wildly difference. A president can’t just let his or her cabinet ministers go without proper justification. This is especially true for a democratic society because the public backlash would be devastating. The president would have little chance of getting re-elected."
Barbie stopped and turned to look at the animal by-products committee members who were just leaving. They had smiles all over their faces. After they were a distance away, Barbie continued, "For some reason, when you first drafted the government officers, you purposely avoided putting Chinese officials at leadership posts. Many of them had the relevant experience, but you didn’t even give them a committee leader post. Therefore, most of the leaders in the agriculture department are westerners. Furthermore, they are familiar with your temperament, so it’s only natural that everyone gave it their all to stake a claim for their own group."
"My temperament? And what would that be?" Yao Yuan asked curiously.
"You are what we call a ‘fake dictator,’ and that’s a compliment." Barbie giggled. "Even though you’ve proclaimed a dictatorial governing style, there have been policies like the creation of House of Representatives and policies that strive for cultural assimilation. Furthermore, other than important positions, like department leaders, all the other government postings require intra-departmental recommendations, and those are decidedly democratic. All of this combined makes you a ‘fake dictator.’"
Yao Yuan rubbed his nose self-consciously, but he didn’t directly rebut Barbie. Instead, he said, "That’s because I have not shown my dictator side yet. Furthermore, the word ‘dictator’ has many nuances in its meaning… Actually, never mind that. Plus, aren’t you going to ask why I purposely put those Chinese officers at the lowest level? The reasoning’s mighty complicated, but here, I’ll try to explain it with a joke.
"Once upon a time, an infamous drug lord was captured by Interpol. He was temporarily detained after his trial at the international court while he awaited his transport to his country of origin. In that period, he befriended his fellow cellmate, who was a turncoat emissary. During one of their conversations, the drug lord asked, ‘Right, we’ve been talking for so long, but I still don’t know why are you in here, and what country did you work for again?’
"After a long and pregnant silence, the emissary replied, ‘I’m a Chinese government officer…’
"The drug lord paused and then nodded in commiseration, ‘Okay, I get it…’"
Barbie turned to Yao Yuan with a confused face. She frowned, waiting for the punch-line before finally conceding. "Wait, that’s it? Unlike the drug lord, I don’t think I get it."
Yao Yuan laughed heartily in response. "No matter, it’s okay if you don’t get it." He massaged his temples and continued, "If there’s nothing else, I will have a simple dinner and resume my sleep. The analysis on the alien object should be ready by tomorrow morning, right?"
Barbie replied, "Then, Captain, I’m afraid you might have to miss your sleep tonight. The preliminary result on the object is back… and it said that the scientists have identified the object’s purpose… or rather, the object has revealed its own purpose…"
"Pat, pat, pat."
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