Deep Space Wandering Fleet-Chapter 224 - Make Them Bankrupt
Chapter 224: Chapter 224 Make Them Bankrupt
Chapter 224: Chapter 224 Make Them Bankrupt
Wang Junpeng estimated that under the government’s planned economy system, the price increases for essential living goods would not be too significant. However high the prices went, it was absolutely impossible to create cohesion if people literally starved to death. But the first items to see price hikes would definitely be these lightly luxurious goods; after all, one wouldn’t die without them.
He quickly purchased several baskets of supplies, along with clothing, reaching his purchasing limit.
Within Earth Era, a flexible system of planned economy was adopted. Since the means of production were communal, the total amount of goods produced was determined by big data analytics. To encourage everyone to shop thriftily and wisely, all goods were priced in progressive tiers; the more of the same item bought within a certain period, the more expensive it became.
The first tier was normal pricing, the second tier was up by 20%, and the third by 40%, and so on.
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When the price increased by 60%, Wang Junpeng decisively stopped buying. By then, the total of all the various items was over 20,000 and filled several large bags after a lengthy card swiping session at the unmanned retail machine.
The people nearby were already giving him strange looks. Was he buying too much?
Even if one wanted to stock up while the prices were low, there was no need to buy so much.
Someone even muttered under their breath whether they should also buy a bit more…
Right now, they were buying to stockpile for personal use, which was perfectly reasonable. But if they were really hoarding to profit later, that seemed a bit inappropriate…
Wang Junpeng, thick-skinned, thought to himself that he had simply bought a bit more. What was the big deal? It wasn’t a crime, was it?
He silently hardened his resolve, “Aren’t you all also buying? The pot calling the kettle black, and yet you’re here laughing at others? Even if I purchase for my own use, there’s nothing wrong with that, right?”
However, a stockpile of 20,000 worth of supplies would definitely not suffice; it would take at least 100,000 to earn more.
But he had already overspent his personal quota. What should he do?
Wang Junpeng’s eyes flickered, and he quickly thought of another idea. He could use his friends’ quotas…
If push came to shove, they could collaborate.
That idiot Xu Jie wouldn’t help, but in the face of interest, there would always be someone who would.
And so, a week quickly passed…
Earth Era continued its high-speed orbit to decrease the probability of being targeted by enemy missiles. The opposing civilization seemed to have also entered a silent state, perhaps having observed the moment a nuclear bomb was absorbed by a High-dimensional Fragment, currently assessing the strengths of both sides; or perhaps they lacked the Super Rockets to launch an attack for the time being.
Both sides were brewing their next wave of offensives.
This silence was like the calm before a storm.
In these days, the upper echelons of Human civilization were busily allocating various planning tasks. Zhang Yuan could only rest for three to four hours out of the 24 in a day, as communication with the surface bases and scientists, and the production of small weapons had him incredibly busy.
Some production line workers had been urgently reassigned to weapon manufacturing. Specifically, the production of small electromagnetic guns could be accelerated if relevant parts were printed with heavy metal 3D printers, indeed making it possible to assemble a few quickly and escape the current defenseless predicament.
Meanwhile, the propaganda department was carrying out an overwhelming public opinion campaign to mobilize for war.
On the other hand, society was witnessing a bizarre chaos of two extremes: on one side, there was an enthusiastic wave of donations, and on the other, a frantic rush to stockpile goods.
Many people’s enthusiasm for work had significantly increased, and there were also very enthusiastic donations, with some even willing to contribute half of their salary to help the entire civilization through tough times!
Here, money was not just a number; it also represented purchasing power and government credit. After donating, it was equivalent to voluntarily reducing one’s own quality of life.
On the other hand, there was a frenzy for material resources.
The day after the news broadcast, supermarkets maintained normal order, and not many were going overboard with their purchases. Everyone voluntarily limited their spending, thinking it was enough for their own use…
But on the second and third day, the number of those hoarding shot up sharply. Led by some individuals, a herd mentality quickly developed, causing a large number of citizens to follow the crowd and frantically snatch up goods in a noisy chaos.
Rumors even began to circulate in the markets, like “war is coming, prices will inevitably rise,” with some self-proclaimed experts giving reasoned analyses and even listing all the items that might increase in price!
As a result, people rushed in without a second thought after hearing this.
The various rowdy hoarders were like locusts, nearly emptying the supermarkets of goods, which seriously affected normal life!
Anyway, in people’s minds, buying a bit more couldn’t possibly do any harm!
Despite the government’s repeated assurances that supplies would not be cut off, the panic induced by the herd mentality couldn’t possibly disappear with just a few promises. Even when purchase restrictions were introduced, demand still outweighed supply, and people were even complaining on the internet about being unable to buy what they needed.
After reading this report, Zhang Yuan felt both angry and amused. They were planning with great difficulty at the front, with soldiers urgently training, and workers on the planet working overtime day and night, yet inexplicably, turmoil had broken out in the rear!
“Is it simply because life has been too comfortable?”
Actually, making an example of a few typical cases to scare the common people, could indeed suppress the problem temporarily, but resorting to authoritarian politics as a solution was ultimately unsustainable, and it would be best not to misuse such measures if not necessary. At least so far, it hadn’t reached that extent.
“Donations on one hand, and looting on the other… People really are a bundle of contradictions.”
“So, right now we even lack relevant laws and legislation, our policies still have quite a lot of loopholes…” Captain Zhao furrowed his brows and sighed.
“Regarding the issue of staffing in legal affairs…”
Several legal experts were also slightly embarrassed; many of their laws were copied directly from Earth, with not much modification.
But Earth Civilization was a large society, with a population in the hundreds of billions, spanning multiple planets, while Earth Era was a smaller society with a population of five hundred thousand. The difference in scale meant that panic would spread at different rates.
However, without these events happening, it would indeed be difficult to anticipate this in advance.
At this moment, the minister of the propaganda department said, “Actually, it’s not really a big problem, let’s have the people from the TV station deal with this… Just in time, some of our soldiers have returned, and they can take the opportunity to educate about common knowledge regarding universe wars during interviews.”
“In times of emergency, it’s more appropriate to influence public opinion with propaganda rather than forcibly arresting people and causing panic.”
Zhang Yuan nodded in agreement, “Actually, we can’t just look at the surface… There are many more people who didn’t join in the chaos than those who did. Most people actually hope for social stability and for us to win this war.”
“Many people are inherently good; it’s just that they’ve been led astray by a few who think they’re smart. Humans are always swayed by the crowd…”
Then, a glimmer of ruthlessness appeared in his eyes, “The legal system must be improved urgently… And as for those speculative merchants, giving them a lesson or even bankrupting them would have a better effect than just arresting them!”
