Marx said:
The end of capitalism is, ultimately, imperialism.
To put it simply, the bourgeoisie constantly squeeze the proletariat dry, and when they can no longer squeeze any more, they invade other countries and turn them into proletarian nations.
But if every nation’s expansionism continues, there will inevitably come a point where their interests collide. That was why Marx predicted that if capitalism were left as it was, these tragic world wars would go on forever.
Communism, born in that way, won great enthusiasm from twentieth-century intellectuals and spread at a rapid pace. In fact, even modern people who know how communism ended would all become communists if they were taken back a hundred years.
If you worked twelve hours a day and saw no sign your life would improve, and your children had to start sweeping chimneys at the age of ten, who would refuse communism?
On top of that, if war broke out, you had to be conscripted too.
But even if it was right in theory, in the end, it was wrong.
Contrary to Marx’s concerns, humanity came to stop war on its own.
Well, there were many reasons, but if I had to pick the two biggest ones: the political system called democracy turned out to be an incredible system for restraining war—the democratic peace theory—and second, with the advent of nuclear weapons, war itself became meaningless.
Besides that, the development of humanism, the world order led by the United States, and anti-imperialism all rendered distinguished service in preventing a Third World War.
-Make America Great Again!
But as expected, nothing in human affairs seems to last forever.
The United States, which had liberated every colony from France and Britain... was now treating its allies like colonies.
Even before his election, Donald had warned allied nations of enormous tariffs and investments into the United States, and the level of his demands was practically twenty-first-century tributary diplomacy.
-Wow! Donald! Donald!
-America First!
History repeats itself. It looked like the craze for communism was about to catch fire again.
Machines were replacing human jobs at far too rapid a pace. Now the bourgeoisie could legally produce proletarians, and because of that, income inequality and polarization within the United States had reached an extremely serious level.
But Americans seemed to want to find the source of their domestic problems outside their country.
They believed that if Big Tech’s factories returned to the United States, manufacturing would revive, but if my memory was correct, only robotics technology became more innovatively advanced. Of course, protectionism did not last long either.
‘This is confusing. Did communism come back again...?’
I resented my poor memory.
I remembered that Donald had fallen into a lame-duck president in less than a year, and afterward Michelle Obama was elected, causing protectionism to vanish without a trace... but I could not clearly remember what the world had looked like in detail.
Had the communist craze flared up again... or had it died down again... Well, I did not remember exactly, but I remembered it going back and forth a few times.
“You’re reading some difficult books, I see?”
After I had waited in the lab for about thirty minutes, Professor Park Huibong came in with a smile on his face.
“The world must truly be in turmoil, seeing you read books like this, Team Leader.”
While waiting for him, I had been reading The Communist Manifesto and Capital. Both were works written by Marx, books very far removed from a financial investor—the final boss of capitalism.
“Goodness, these were banned books when I was in university. Do you like books like this, Team Leader?”
“No. Since the international situation keeps turning strange, I’ve been finding myself interested in theoretical books lately. Hehe.”
“No matter what, these are extremely dangerous ideological books. In my day, if you carried these around, you were a commie. I doubt it’s much different these days.”
“Haha.”
I laughed loudly at Professor Park’s joking.
Recently, HBF’s research achievements had been dazzling. The research team had currently nearly completed the realization of meat quality and texture, and only cost innovation remained, which was also showing considerable progress.
“Shall I grill you a piece of steak again today?”
“It’s all right. Thanks to the associate professor, I’ve already tried it.”
“Oh? How was it?”
“It tasted quite a lot like Hanwoo now. I tried it side by side with ordinary meat, and I couldn’t feel any difference at all.”
“Hahaha. That taste came out even after reducing the unit cost by a full twenty percent. We’ve almost succeeded in realizing the texture of chicken and pork too, so you should try those as well.”
“I tasted every type. I honestly can’t tell any of them apart.”
“Hahaha.”
Professor Park’s mouth stretched from ear to ear.
Thanks to receiving enormous investments from conglomerates and pension funds, they could focus solely on research. Because of that, it had taken less than two years to realize the texture and achieve a twenty-percent cost innovation.
“It’s truly amazing, Professor. At this pace, it’ll be cheaper than ordinary meat within five years, won’t it?”
“Er... Actually, that isn’t quite the case. Going from fifty points to ninety is easy, but going from ninety to a hundred is a blood-and-tears affair. Still, what is worth noting is that our technology seems to have entered the ninety-five-point range. Haha.”
“That’s a relief. As expected, HBF is the best cultured meat team in the country. Hehe.”
“It is all thanks to you recognizing us early on, Team Leader. But what brings you here today...?”
I paused for a moment, then spoke.
“Professor, then let’s start preparing for commercial sales.”
“C-commercial sales?”
“Yes. You’ve brought the technology this far in Korea’s cultured meat market, which is practically a wasteland. We can’t keep leaving this technology idle.”
“But...”
“We have been continuously contacting government officials on our side. But if we do put it on the market, would there be any problems with safety and matters like that?”
Professor Park was flustered for a moment, but he soon corrected his expression and put on the face of a businessman.
“If it is that aspect, please don’t worry. There is little difference between the cultured chicken currently being sold in the United States and our meat.”
“I’m not doubting you, but since it’s food, the public may have concerns. Is there any good way to dispel those concerns?”
“I had not intended to say this much... but in truth, if I were to go to the United States right now, I could obtain FDA approval immediately. If you are worried about consumer concerns, I will undergo every safety test over there.”
I nodded.
Originally, he would have joined hands with Tyson Foods and obtained approval to sell beef around now. Even if the investor had changed, the researcher had not, so it was unlikely to be baseless confidence.
“I see. Then could you take care of that work? I understand FDA approval is quite strict, so if the technology is recognized there, it should become a good certificate of guarantee.”
“Understood. Then I will prepare immediately, but... Team Leader, is this truly possible?”
He asked in a voice tinged with concern.
“I may not know politics well, but I do know how much the livestock industry hates us. There will certainly be tremendous opposition from both inside and outside. Is commercial sale possible?”
“Please trust me. If I wasn’t going to do that, I wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of bringing you here, Professor. I will try to persuade the political world.”
“...It is not that I don’t trust you, Team Leader. I’m saying this because I don’t trust the political world. As far as I know, the Blue House’s signature campaign pledges are farmer subsidies and protection of the livestock industry. Their policy stance is completely different. Would they permit our commercial sale?”
“What do you mean, different? They refused to open the market for the sake of food security, so there is no way they won’t allow meat produced by a Korean company to be sold.”
“...That is wordplay. The interests of livestock farms and our cultured meat team are inversely proportional. We are inevitably in a position where we are fighting over the same bowl of rice.”
“They won’t be able to hold out.”
“...Pardon?”
I smiled bitterly.
“The Blue House won’t be able to withstand Donald’s trade pressure. The beef issue will probably come up again in this round of tariff negotiations.”
“Then...?”
“Let’s give what we must and receive what we can... I will try to persuade the political world that way. In any case, if they don’t open this market, automobiles and semiconductors will face retaliatory tariffs, so the Blue House should be thinking hard about it too.”
“This is not a regime that would open the food market just because of that...”
“Professor, please show them your excellent technology. If it seems that the beef we produce can compete with American beef without falling behind, it will become a good cheering song for the government.”
In truth, it would not. The better domestic technology became, the more resentment from the agricultural and livestock sectors would soar.
I had no memory of Korea approving commercial sales of cultured meat in the future I knew, but I knew well what would happen if it succeeded.
For months, tractor protests would take place in Gwanghwamun. Regardless of faction, if you smashed their rice bowl, every agricultural and livestock worker would rise up. It had been like that during the Participatory Government, so would this time be any different?
“Someone has to take the bullet.”
I reassured him, still concerned.
“The Blue House will certainly shoulder it.”
*
“Sejun!”
When I arrived at the meeting place after the interview, Meilin greeted me with a bright smile.
She trotted over like a puppy and promptly took my bag for me. It seemed she was extremely happy to see me after nearly a month.
“You don’t have to do this...”
“It’s fine. I happened to want to carry a bag.”
“...Is that so? By the way, ‘that matter’?”
“I handled everything just as you said. Half into the Singapore account and half into your personal account, Sejun.”
I felt relieved. Blood truly did not lie. Unlike her cute appearance, she was a woman who handled work with absolute certainty.
“By the way, Sejun.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t think I’m in a position to ask this, but... why do you need so much money this time? It looked several times more than usual.”
“This matter... is somewhat difficult.”
State affairs could not be left solely to the conscience of those in power. This was an area that required a lot of incentives.
“Why? Was CEO Ming very troubled?”
“As expected, you’re quick to catch on. Actually, it isn’t a problem related to this money, but CEO Ming asked me to explain his difficult position well. Of course, it isn’t something I should be involved in, but I also thought, how troubled must he be to ask me for something like this...”
“What happened?”
“The investment portfolio you put together, Sejun. Was it the Nasdaq downturn...?”
“Yes.”
“CEO Ming has been diligently following the investment portfolio, but he says the losses because of it are severe.”
I nodded.
Changcheng Fund was currently betting short to the level of “America is about to collapse,” but contrary to that, the Nasdaq had continued to rise.
“The salary he keeps paying me, too... and the investment losses... He said if this continues, he is worried about losses dropping below the principal... He pleaded with me earnestly.”
“Does he mean he no longer wants to invest in inverse products and the like?”
“I think so...? CEO Ming said that at this level, America would have to collapse tomorrow for it to turn a profit. So he mentioned revising the portfolio... How should I relay it?”
I felt relieved.
Seeing that he had reached the point where he was breathless, it seemed he really was buying properly.
I smiled gently at her and said,
“Tell him he’s doing very well, so please continue.”
“...What?”
“America is about to collapse. No, it nearly collapses.”
Meilin, who normally never asked twice about anything I said, stuck out her lips in a pout.
“Sejun, isn’t that too much of a conspiracy theory? How could America collapse...”