Chapter 729: The Terrifying Efficiency of Capital

Chapter 729: Chapter 340: The Terrifying Efficiency of Capital

Leo stared at Matthew.

“You’re going to support nuclear power in the name of protecting the environment. Voters love the narrative of sacrificing personal reputation for the greater good.”

“With these five million US dollars, you can hire the best PR team to polish this statement. You can buy up all the billboards to explain this logic to the voters.”

After thinking for less than a minute, Gary picked up the letter of intent for the donation from the table.

He folded it, tucked it into the inner pocket of his suit jacket, and then raised the wine glass in front of him.

“Mayor Wallace,” Gary said with a composed expression. “I’ve carefully reviewed the latest environmental science reports. Actually, I’ve always believed that nuclear power is a type of clean energy. It plays an irreplaceable role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

Thomas and Matthew exchanged a look.

They both picked up their documents and put them in their pockets.

“Yes, we need pragmatic environmental policies,” Thomas chimed in.

“The nuclear power project in Pennsylvania is in the nation’s long-term interest,” Matthew said, raising his glass.

Leo raised his water glass and clinked it against the three congressmen’s.

“To saving the planet.”

The glasses clinked with a crisp sound.

This represented three key votes, now securely in the bag.

「That afternoon, in a Capitol Hill office building.」

The hallways were bustling with people. Congressional aides hurried between offices, clutching thick stacks of documents.

Leo stood by a marble pillar at a corner in the hallway.

He was waiting for a specific target to appear.

Ten minutes later, a congresswoman in a red suit emerged from a conference room.

Alexandra.

She was a leading figure among the Progressives, representing a wealthy coastal district.

At yesterday’s caucus meeting, her attacks on Leo had been the most ferocious. She resolutely opposed any form of nuclear power revival plan and had threatened to launch a political boycott against him across All of America.

Leo walked up to her, blocking her path.

Alexandra stopped in her tracks.

She looked at Leo, her face showing obvious disgust.

“Mayor Wallace,” Alexandra said, her tone arrogant. “It’s useless for you to stop me. Your proposal from yesterday’s meeting was completely rejected. Don’t even think about getting my vote.”

“Save your little tricks for winning people over. I will never surrender to the monopoly capital of the fossil fuel and nuclear industries.”

Leo looked calmly at the congresswoman who fancied herself a paragon of morality.

“I’m not here today to convince you to support me. I’m just here to inform you of something.”

Leo took a tablet out of his bag.

“I just got off the phone with the presidents of the North American Building Union and the National Power Union,” Leo said, swiping the screen open. “They are extremely disappointed by your resolute obstruction of infrastructure development and your destruction of job opportunities for workers.”

Leo looked Alexandra in the eye.

“The Unions have already passed a formal resolution to immediately withdraw their endorsement for your reelection. They will stop providing any financial support to your campaign account, and their members will no longer serve as your campaign volunteers.”

A crack appeared in Alexandra’s expression.

For any Democratic Party politician, losing the endorsement of two of the largest blue-collar unions in All of America meant a severe blow to their base.

She would lose tens of thousands of free canvassers.

“You don’t scare me,” Alexandra said, feigning composure. “My constituents support a pure Green New Deal. They’ll fill the gap from the unions’ withdrawal with small-dollar donations. I don’t need those capital-controlled union bureaucrats telling me what to do.”

Leo lit up the tablet’s screen and held it up in front of Alexandra.

The screen displayed a detailed public opinion poll report.

“Of course I know your voter demographics. That’s why I’ve prepared a more direct gift for you.”

Leo swiped through the data charts on the screen.

“I’ve already contacted a local Union leader in your home district. He has an extremely high reputation at the grassroots level, and he’s a staunch supporter of industrial revitalization and large-scale infrastructure projects.”

“Tomorrow at ten in the morning, he will hold a press conference to formally announce that he is challenging you in the party primary.”

Alexandra stared at the unfamiliar name and the extremely high projected approval ratings on the screen, her brow furrowed.

Leo continued to drop bombshells.

“A union leader with zero political experience can’t pose a threat to you, of course. But I will provide him with ample ammunition. Evelyn Saint Cloud’s Super PAC will transfer five million US dollars in campaign funds into his account tomorrow afternoon.”

Leo narrated coldly, “I will use that five million US dollars to buy up the primetime ad slots on every TV station in your district.”

“I will hire the best copywriting team to broadcast, 24/7, how you smashed the rice bowls of local workers to uphold your hypocritical environmental dogma. I will edit every one of your hardline speeches into evidence of your disregard for the survival of the common people.”

“I will use an advertising blitz to completely destroy your political image in the area.”

Alexandra’s face instantly turned deathly pale.

She knew exactly what a five-million-dollar targeted ad blitz meant.

In a local-level primary, that level of funding was enough to directly buy a victory.

Her small-dollar donations, raised through the internet, were completely powerless against this industrialized machine of capital.

Under the double blow of having no union endorsement and facing a financial sniper attack of this magnitude, her political career had essentially been handed a death sentence.

Leo took half a step forward, closing the distance between them.

He lowered his voice.

“You won’t just lose your anti-nuclear bill; you’ll lose your desk.”

“Good luck, Congresswoman.”

Leo put away his tablet and turned toward the elevators.

Alexandra stood frozen on the spot.

She watched Leo’s retreating back, her body trembling uncontrollably.

Leo got into the sedan parked outside Capitol Hill and leaned back in his seat.

‘I have to mentally replay everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours.’

Through Evelyn’s Super PAC, funds were being gathered in a continuous stream.

Some of these funds became carrots, stuffed into the pockets of wavering congressmen in desperate need of resources.

The rest became sticks, transformed into a deluge of negative TV ads to hammer the disobedient hardliners.

Through daily, yearly election cycles, this process had been forged to be both precise and efficient.

The wealthy and corporations inject funds into Super PACs, and the Super PACs outsource the work to professional political consulting firms.

The consulting firms use big data to analyze voters’ psychological weaknesses and produce highly inflammatory targeted ads.

TV stations earn hefty advertising fees to broadcast this content around the clock.

In this closed loop, money is efficiently converted into political power.

Any individual or idea that tried to obstruct the operation of this machine would be pulverized by this meat grinder of money.

No wonder people felt that capital controlled the United States.

The efficiency and lethality of this kind of capital operation were truly terrifying.

Leo looked out the car window at the Washington streetscape, his conviction hardening.

‘I must completely master the means of controlling capital. The switch for this meat grinder must always be in my hands.’

‘These vast sums of money, enough to destroy cities and topple nations, must charge into battle strictly along the path I set for them.’

‘I can absolutely never become a puppet fed by capital.’