Chapter 636 - 297: Let’s Pretend We Have a Chicken

Leo wrote the word "Capital" at the top of the pyramid, then wrote "Administration" at the bottom.

"The constitutional system of the United States was designed from the very beginning as a system of checks and balances. The separation of powers, the push and pull between the Federation and the states—this was all meant to prevent tyranny, but it also created gray areas for capital to exploit."

"This country was founded by plantation owners, slave owners, and merchants. When they were writing the rules, they weren’t about to write themselves out of power."

"The path for capital to control the administration is crystal clear: they hold voters hostage by providing jobs, and they fund politicians through political donations."

"The legislators are responsible for making laws, and the judges are responsible for interpreting them. But the executive officials—that is, you mayors here today—are merely the enforcers at the very end of this chain."

"When you want to use your executive power to punish capital, you’ll find that the law doesn’t support you, the politicians don’t support you, and even the workers in the factories don’t support you—because they’re afraid of losing their jobs."

Leo tapped the whiteboard hard with the tip of his pen.

"This is why simple administrative contracts are ineffective. Your opponents wield weapons of a higher order: legislative power and the power of judicial interpretation."

The conference room fell silent. The mayors had a vague sense of these things, but no one had ever spelled it out so bluntly before.

"So, we’re going to change the game."

Leo erased the pyramid and drew a circle on the whiteboard.

"Controlling the source is just the first step."

"The second step, and the most crucial one, is reverse control."

He held up a second finger.

"We’re going to use a grassroots approach to sever the umbilical cord between capital and the politicians."

"What’s the capitalists’ trump card for controlling politicians? It’s jobs and political donations."

"They tell the politicians: ’If you don’t listen to me, I’ll pull my investments and lay people off. Five thousand people in your district will be out of work, and you will lose the election.’"

"That is their nuclear option."

"We are going to neutralize that nuclear option."

Leo’s gaze sharpened.

"We need to give the workers the means to counter the capitalists. We need to make the politicians understand that it’s not just the capitalists who can decide their political fate. Those workers with grease on their hands can kick them to the curb, too."

"This is the system of oversight I want to build—one that is perpendicular to capital."

"I don’t trust the traditional unions. Some of their leaders have been sitting in their offices for so long, their asses are now firmly in the bosses’ laps."

Leo’s right hand rested on the edge of the whiteboard.

"Unions, of course, used to be a progressive force. You could even say they were the backbone of this country."

"They created the middle class, forcing behemoths like General Motors and U.S. Steel to share their profits through collective bargaining."

"Back then, a blue-collar worker with just a high school diploma could afford a house and send their kids to college. That union premium was the fuel for the American Dream."

"The five-day, eight-hour workday, minimum wage, overtime pay—all these rules were won by unions through blood and strikes."

He looked at the mayors, his tone turning cold.

"But that was then. Today’s unions have gone into a steep decline."

"The industrial structure is changing, and capital has grown legs. If you ask for a raise, the boss just moves the factory to Mexico or Vietnam."

"Right-to-work laws pulled the rug out from under them, allowing workers to free-ride without paying union dues."

"The result is that union funds have dried up and their organizing power has collapsed."

"What’s even more disgusting is the internal parasitism. Many leaders are making millions a year, living in mansions, and flying on private jets. They’re protecting mediocrity and seniority, not the actual workers."

"In public schools, unions even protect teachers who are absolutely terrible at their jobs."

Leo walked around the table and stopped in front of Ron.

"When an organization grows to a certain size, its primary goal is no longer to fulfill its mission, but to ensure its own survival."

"Bureaucracy creates a kind of rational rigidity, and this rigidity strangles all flexibility and innovation."

"Today’s unions have become bloated middlemen. They hold politicians hostage politically and drive up costs economically, and in the end, the burden falls entirely on consumers and ordinary workers."

"So, I don’t need these relics of a bygone era. I’m going to build my own organization."

"In every factory that receives one of our orders, we will establish a Health and Productivity Committee."

Leo explained the new term.

"This committee will report directly to the Industrial Revival Alliance—that is, to all of us here."

"We will bypass the bureaucratized national unions and establish grassroots organizations under our control directly within the factories. This is how we’ll set up our command posts on the factory floor."

"Its members must be representatives of the frontline workers, and we will give this committee real power."

"We will directly tie the workers’ vital interests—the continuation of their medical benefits, wage increases, the payment of bonuses—to the evaluation results from this committee."

"More importantly, we’re going to link these benefits in real-time to the voting records of the district’s politicians."

Leo stared into Ron’s eyes.

"We will make the politicians understand that their jobs will no longer be decided by lobbyists’ checks, but by the anger on the factory floor."

"We will use this vertical control to lock capital, labor, and politicians all into our framework."

"This is the People’s Review System."

"We are going to solidify public opinion, turning it from a vote that happens once every four years into a tangible, constant pressure that is exerted every single day."