OBS Chapter 2093
Chapter 2093
Chapter 2093
Auction site.
To be honest... this doesn't look like a so-called auction house at all, it's more like a dance party.
Of course, it wasn't like this at the beginning. At least the Albanian gangs didn't plan to do this. They did this in France before, but they were not the main organizers. They were suppliers, and they would give the untouched or particularly beautiful "goods" to their "dealers".
That is, the kind of broker who moves around among the powerful and wealthy.
They are the ones who benefit the most. In fact, they don’t care how much the goods can be sold for. What they care about is the network resources brought by this activity!
Only when people have done bad things together, can the relationship be free of worries! After all, everyone has their own handles, and there is no need to worry about who will betray whom. This is also a common method used by brokers.
Of course, there are many different types of brokers. You don't have to play the third road.
For example, the man named Remy Denton in "House of Cards". He wanders among politicians, but he is not a politician. He originally represents the big company Sancor, promoting legislation that is favorable to the company and looking for protectors of the company in the government. He once donated to the company of Claire, Underwood's wife, in order to maintain his relationship with Underwood; he also donated to the construction of a library at Santino College. His intention is obvious. This school is a bridge between the military and political circles in the United States. People like Remy are called brokers in American politics. They are active in Congress and other government departments in large numbers, forming an off-campus lobbying group with American characteristics. The United States is composed of thousands of different interest groups, and each group has the right to lobby for political decisions that are favorable to itself. Brokers are middlemen. The means they use are mainly donations to finance politicians to participate in elections or other political activities. As long as the money is not directly sent to the politicians and used by the politicians for private purposes, it is legal and not bribery.
Broadly speaking, Claire is also a broker. She can get donations from Sanco by whispering to her husband so that Congress can pass legislation that is favorable to Sanco. The "bed man" is powerful, but this is the backstage, which is invisible to ordinary people.
Brokers have great power. In the play, Congressman Peter wants to run for governor, but Remy and Sanco "buy" the wavering congressman through donations, so that the basin bill that is not conducive to Sanco's oil and gas exploration cannot be passed. This kind of detail shows how bills are proposed and voted on in the US Congress, and makes people feel how powerful capital can effectively control politics.
The alliance between capital and politics is seamlessly combined in the United States through the so-called "revolving door". Not everyone can be a broker, it requires conditions. Remi used to be Underwood's assistant. After quitting his political job, he turned to work for a wealthy company, and his original political resources just came in handy. This is common in the United States. There are two types of elite groups in American society, one is the political elite, including members of Congress, the Secretary of State, the President, etc., and the other is the career elite, including financial tycoons, business leaders and professors from famous universities. These two roles can be easily interchanged in the United States. In the view of Italian sociologist Pareto, elite convection can achieve effective docking between academic resources, business experience and political wisdom, so that all kinds of scarce intellectual resources in the whole society can be maximized.
This is a good thing. The bad thing is, who can guarantee that there won't be a strong alliance and the strong will take all? After the financial crisis in 2008, ordinary Americans were tightening their belts and the "Occupy Wall Street" movement took place. However, the year-end bonuses of Wall Street's financial executives did not decrease at all, but increased instead. Looking at the surface, big companies have "people in the government". The Secretary of the Treasury was "rotated" from the largest financial company Goldman Sachs. In the play, President Walker once said that he would invite the wealthy Stark to be his vice president. He always had to listen to Stark's opinions when he made political decisions.
In theory, the United States has a good judicial system that can prevent political elites from serving as pawns for powerful capital. However, judicial intervention is more about form and cannot determine the substance everywhere. Political elites can introduce policies that benefit large companies under open debate and in accordance with procedural justice. The Commodity Futures Trading Modernization Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 2000 and known as the "Enron loophole," was the result of the bankrupt Enron giving U.S. congressmen millions of dollars to influence decision-making. The bill is the most radical deregulation measure in the field of financial derivatives trading supervision since the 80s.
Money makes the world go round. A few years ago, US President Obama spent a lot of effort to promote the health care bill. After it was passed, there were still concerns that the bill would be abolished. Why is that? The rich are "unhappy", and the poor have no money to make politicians "happy"! The situation that brokers and "revolving doors" have "spun" the United States in the past two or three decades is a return to the Gilded Age. Social wealth is accelerating to concentrate in a few people, and class mobility is far less easy than before. If you talk to Americans about the "American Dream" today, many Americans who can't find a job will roll their eyes.
The exchange of interests between politics and capital is, of course, hidden. Underwood wanted to "talk" directly to the executives of Sanco, but the latter pushed him away, telling him that he could only go through an agent, or a broker, because he didn't want to be caught. However, the work behind the scenes had to be done more thoroughly and fully.
The United States does this, and so do Europe and the United States.
The Albanian gangs are indeed notorious, but in Europe, they are naturally excluded. They cannot hook up with the upper-class masters, and the masters will never have anything to do with them. But what if the masters need their services?
Of course it depends on those brokers!
The broker is also happy to do these things, after all, this is the best way to expand the network. Those gentlemen who come to play with him will naturally hand over the handle to him.
After a few visits, everyone became family, so naturally everything was easy to discuss.
But in the United States... Albanians don't have this channel. There's nothing we can do, it's too niche.
The Albanian gangs can't offer anything that the masters are interested in, and they can't bring them votes... There are too few Albanians in the United States. They don't represent an ethnic group... They are too special.
It is a special existence wherever it is.
In Europe, they are one of the very few Islamic countries.
In the Balkans, they are not mainstream Slavs. The ancestors of the Albanians are the ancient Illyrians, who belong to the Indo-European race, different from the Slavs who migrated in later to most countries in the Balkan Peninsula. Albania's complex mountainous and hilly terrain, which is relatively independent of the outside world, has effectively preserved the ethnic characteristics, language, culture, customs and habits of the Albanians, forming a unique ethnic region in the southwestern corner of the Balkans.
In other words, they are not next to anyone!
The major ethnic groups in the United States have nothing to do with Albania. Even if they want to integrate into any group, others will not want them!
They cannot form a group and have no interest groups.
Donors naturally have no interest in dealing with them!
In fact, the upper class won't give away their secrets easily. They like the kind of brokers who have status and money, because they know their limits and won't do anything reckless! Everyone plays the game under the same rules.
But Albanian gangs are something politicians naturally hate because they have no rules!
Therefore, this auction held by the Albanian gang was actually very simple, almost the same as the "farm tool" auctions on the streets of the South before the Civil War, where everyone looked at the goods and bid for them.
It's very messy.
But now it has become very elegant.
Everyone was very happy, even unrestrained. They drank from bottles, laughed loudly, and took off less and less clothes, showing their ugly bodies without any hesitation. The atmosphere was warm and weird. Even the original "goods" were unshackled and began to wander around. They looked dazed and did not look like they were forced. It was a world of difference from the numb and life-worse-than-death demeanor before. They served as waiters and... those who understand will understand.
This is a large silver party!
"Are you sure your tip is correct?"
Barry was watching the situation inside through a telescope from the outside and was a little bit unconvinced that this was a human trafficking den!
“It’s just one big party!”
Americans love to hold parties, especially young people. Of course, such parties are always inseparable from sex, alcohol and drugs, and some even involve crimes. But what does this have to do with Barry? Even if a superhero has an overflowing sense of justice, he will not stop others from holding such parties.
Although this is not a good thing, it is not a big deal in the eyes of most Americans.
Iris was also confused... To be honest, she had attended such parties before. Especially after high school, her father no longer watched her as closely as before, after all, once she turned 18, she was an adult. Although Joe didn't like his daughter doing anything messy with those brats, but... everyone had their own social life, and Joe was not the kind of overprotective parent, so he didn't have such a strong desire to control his children.
As long as he doesn't touch drugs, Joe can accept it... Oh, and remember to take precautions.
Don't let anyone get killed, Qiao will never agree to her daughter becoming a single mother.
Although most black people don't have fathers, Joe would never agree to this happening in the West family!
As a child growing up in a black community, Joe has seen too many things like this. Being a single mother is not that easy. Joe is from a single-parent family. His dead father ran away when he was three years old. He knows how bad this feeling is!
According to a survey report in the United States, more than 70% of African American families lack fathers. Most African Americans grow up without their fathers by their side, and some do not even know who their fathers are.
When these black children grow up, the males are very likely to "harm" other girls, and after the girls become pregnant, they will leave irresponsibly; while the females are very likely to become single mothers and raise their children alone.
This has formed a vicious circle and is even getting worse.
Let's get back to the point. If it was just a simple silver party, Barry would never go and destroy it...
"That shouldn't be the case! So many gangsters came here just to have a party? They can't be that idle, right?"
Iris was also a little skeptical, but the problem was that she knew several of the gangsters, the so-called underworld bosses, and these people should not be so idle.
However, at this moment, the scene suddenly became intense.
That scene made Barry and Iris feel awkward.
Of course, they were not embarrassed by the situation, but... by each other. Although Barry was not an expert in love, and had never been in love before, how many boys didn't have a few folders hidden deep in their computers?
And Iris is a veteran of battles. She has at least eighty boyfriends, if not a hundred. Although this scene is grand, she can't escape those little things.
But if they were with each other, it would be different.
Barry has the desire but not the courage to do it.
Iris simply treats Barry as a younger brother.
So it was awkward.
"Or... should we retreat first?" Barry did have evil intentions. There was a voice deep in his heart telling him to hug the people around him, but he didn't have the courage and could only make small talk.
Iris seemed to wake up as well, and said hurriedly: "Yes, yes, yes..."
She felt that something was wrong with her, that she had that kind of feeling towards Barry... This made Iris feel ashamed! She even felt so dirty. It was as if she was with a boy who was not yet an adult... In fact, Barry had graduated from college for several years.
But Iris never realized this...
"Okay! Let's go now!"
Barry said immediately, his courage was about to burst out!
However, at this moment, the situation changed again.
I saw those girls who were originally in crazy desire suddenly took out a lot of sharp blades from somewhere, and then cut the throats of the men who were indulging in carnal desires on them or under them one by one!
What's even more bizarre is that the men seemed to be unaware of this, and they were still indulging in the pleasure of the flesh. Even when the blood on their necks was spurting to the ceiling, they didn't put up any resistance, and even their faces were still full of pig-like expressions!
The whole scene was disgusting and weird!
Blood spurted into the air and then fell like raindrops.
The music was still going on. Those men who didn't have a partner yet, like crazy, ran over and threw the victims who had been drained of blood and could no longer move aside, and continued what they had just done. Then they had their throats cut again!
Without exception!
Barry and Iris were stunned.
Barry didn't even have time to save people in the first place...even though Barry had super reflexes.
The Speed Force gives Barry superhuman reflexes, and his body can quickly send signals to his brain, so fast that he can even dodge lightning. His brain's ability to process information is many times greater than that of an ordinary person!
But my brain is still shut down by the current changes!