Chapter 618 - 292: Firing Loose Sand into Bricks

"Sentiment and gratitude alone won’t mobilize three hundred thousand people."

"You need to give them a reason why they *have* to do it."

Leo smiled.

"Of course I know that."

"Ideals can light the fire, but only self-interest can keep it burning."

Leo opened his drawer and took out a draft of an executive order that had been prepared long ago.

"This is the Family Expansion Plan."

Leo pushed the document toward Ethan.

"Starting today, the Mutual Aid Alliance will be rolling out a Family Account feature."

"Every official Pittsburgh member holding a Red Card will have three family slots."

"They can give these three slots to their immediate or extended family members living in other parts of Pennsylvania."

"The relatives they link to their account will receive a temporary Mutual Aid Card."

"With this temporary card, they can enjoy the same prescription discounts as Pittsburgh residents up to three times a month."

"But there’s one condition: they have to come to Pittsburgh in person to pick up their medication."

Ethan’s eyes widened as he quickly flipped through the document.

"This... this is just expanding the member base in disguise! It will increase our financial burden!"

"It’s customer acquisition cost," Leo corrected him.

"Think about it. When that worker goes back to his hometown with his receipt and tells his aunt, ’Not only can I get cheap medicine, but I can also help you get cheap medicine.’"

"What will that aunt do?"

"She’ll treat that worker like a god."

"She’ll instantly become our most steadfast supporter."

"She’ll take that temporary card and show it off to her neighbors, brag about it to her card-playing friends."

"And the neighbors who don’t have a card will get jealous. They’ll become desperate."

"They’ll ask, ’Why don’t we have one? Why do only the relatives of people from Pittsburgh get them?’"

"And the aunt will tell them, ’Because your representatives are opposing the bill. If the bill passes statewide, you can have one too.’"

Leo stood up, walked over to the map, and looked at the vast expanse of Pennsylvania.

"This is fission."

"I’m going to use these three hundred thousand nodes to connect three million families."

"I’m going to turn every person in Pittsburgh into a small hub with the power to allocate resources."

"For the sake of their pride in front of their relatives, for the practical benefit of saving their family money, for that sense of superiority that comes from having connections."

"They will push our policies more aggressively than any professional salesperson."

"To protect this privilege, they’ll take up their guns and fight to the death with anyone who dares to speak ill of the Mutual Aid Alliance."

"Leo, your plan is grandiose."

"We’ve mobilized the masses, getting the workers to fight the insurance companies."

"But, do you have some kind of misunderstanding about the American spirit of resistance?"

Ethan pulled out a chair and sat down, his tone filled with deep skepticism.

"You think just because they have guns, they’ll fight to the death? You think just because they’re oppressed, they’ll rise up in rebellion?"

"That’s a common misjudgment."

Ethan held up one finger.

"First, this is a highly atomized society. Americans can live in the same apartment building and not even know their neighbors’ names."

"We may have three hundred million guns, but those guns are scattered across three hundred million separate bedrooms. There’s no unified organization, no common platform, and certainly no strict discipline."

"Scattered individuals with small arms have absolutely no chance against a state apparatus equipped with armored vehicles, drones, and surveillance networks, let alone against the massive legal teams of the insurance companies."

Ethan held up a second finger.

"Second, the weakness of the middle class."

"Everyone complains, but most people still have a house, a job, credit card bills to pay, and Netflix to watch."

"History has proven that as long as people still have something to lose, they prefer to vent through low-cost methods like the legal system, voting, or just complaining online."

"You expect them to actually bleed for this, to sacrifice their current lives? They won’t do it."

Ethan looked at Leo, his expression serious.

"We’re up against the health insurance giants, the strongest fortress of capitalism. If we can’t truly galvanize this force, if our people scatter after the first assault, we are going to die a very ugly death."

"They have big data surveillance, Lobbying Groups, and legislative resources. All we have is a mob of angry but disorganized workers."

"Leo, have you really thought this through?"

Leo sat behind his desk, fiddling with the deep red Mutual Aid Card in his hand.

He listened to all of Ethan’s doubts.

These doubts were reasonable and realistic—the conclusion any rational member of the elite would reach.

"You’re right, Ethan," Leo began to speak.

"Under the current social structure, they are indeed a disorganized mess. They are indeed weak."

"But you’re only seeing the surface."

Leo stood up and walked over to Ethan.

"The problem isn’t the weapons, nor is it what they have to lose."

"The problem is the ideological rift, the lack of organization."

Leo continued, "The gun-owning community in the United States is extremely fractured."

"The left hates the right, white people hate black people, locals hate immigrants. The ruling class excels at creating these divisions, letting the power of the masses exhaust itself internally."

"They’ve created the perfect trap: identity politics."

"Then there’s the legal and psychological game."

"While the Second Amendment to the Constitution protects gun ownership, it also establishes an extremely high cost for rebellion. Most people still have a blind faith in the rule of law. Unless they’re facing a life-or-death situation, it’s difficult for them to develop the mindset for a complete break."