Chapter 456: The Rubion Incident

No matter what era, the ‘commoners’, as one of the basic components of the country, are actually a group of people who are easy to coax and appease.

As long as normal production and life can be guaranteed and there is no excessive oppression, no one really wants to do anything.

Most civilian rebellions, riots, uprisings and other incidents in history basically occurred when they were oppressed beyond their 'threshold' and could no longer maintain a normal life.

Otherwise, who would be willing to give up the life in front of them and risk their lives to confront those in power and violent institutions that control most of the force?

They just want to live their own small life, with three meals a day and no worries about food and clothing. No matter what kind of situation the universe is in, as long as it does not affect the place where they are, they can eat and drink as they should, at most. After dinner, chat casually about things other than life.

The women will chat about interesting things about local life and entertainment, and those who are better informed can also use some "interstellar gossip" to become the center of the chat.

Men, on the other hand, maintain the thousands-of-year-old tradition of "keying political affairs", pointing out the country and writing passionately. One day they criticize policies, and the next day they become navy marshals and deduce the situation of the war.

But even these people who are easy to coax and appease are also a group of 'selfish' people.

They account for every benefit related to themselves in life, especially those benefits that have been obtained, and they will take it very seriously.

After all, this is human nature. Except for the real saints in the legend, everyone will care about their own interests.

Relatives turning against each other and fratricide due to interest issues happen almost every moment, and this is just for one's own friends and relatives.

This kind of problem is more likely to be triggered if it is for other outsiders - such as governments, businesses, and other public institutions.

The fellow countryman who was having a "fish-and-water relationship" with you one second, after learning that his own interests have been harmed, becomes a "tough guy who dares to kill horses" the next second.

Such situations are all too common in both the Federation and the Empire. If local governments and functional departments continue to maintain an arrogant attitude in dealing with problems, small conflicts will often intensify and eventually escalate into riots.

This is why the local garrison forces of the Federation and the Empire have extremely rich experience in public security warfare. They will give you a "real combat" every now and then. It is difficult for you to be proficient in it.

Originally, the people of the Lubion Galaxy were suffocating because of the increasing pressure in work and life. The public opinion monitoring department of the Galaxy Autonomous Government even issued relevant early warnings many times.

In the words of the director of the Public Opinion Monitoring Department, who reported to the top management of the Galaxy Autonomous Government: "The negative emotions among the people in the galaxy are now like a powder keg, and gunpowder is still being poured into it. If it is not dealt with in time, Once negative emotions are completely detonated, the consequences will be unimaginable.”

It’s not like no one listened to what this supervisor said. Some government officials, including Franklin, also suggested that they hold interviews with some companies and ask them to pay more attention to this aspect. After all, it wasn’t long before the situation in the galaxy stabilized. The public sentiment cannot withstand the tossing.

Unfortunately, the top executives who can really make decisions did not listen to these warnings. Under the lobbying of several leading companies and consortiums, they chose to believe that these companies could 'easily solve' these problems and ensure production and economy. Activities are not affected.

The final result was that as news spread of salary cuts in all walks of life in the Lubion galaxy, this 'powder keg' was detonated.

No one wants to take a pay cut, especially in these tough times.

No one is willing to use the money deducted from themselves as wages for others, even if the government and major companies advertise that they will "create more jobs and reduce the overall unemployment rate in the Lubion system."

"Yes, those unemployed people are very pitiful. I also hope that the government can take effective measures to promote employment, but the prerequisite is not to deprive me of the money I deserve."

"The unemployed have nothing to do with me, so why should I give them the money that should be given to me?"

"Those who are unemployed and can't find a job have families to support. Don't we, the people, need to support our families?"

Such remarks have become a more mainstream voice among the people in a short period of time, because most people are not willing to let their "vested interests" be damaged.

Soon, these public opinions ushered in a second evolution, and very smoothly transferred to the Atlas Group.

"When Atlas Group was managing it before, there weren't so many messes. Money was paid as it was, and daily working hours and intensity could also be controlled."

"Yes, if Atlas can do it, why can't local companies and consortiums do it?"

"If we don't have that ability, I suggest we invite Atlas Group back."

Look, what does it mean to have a great scholar argue for me~ (tactical retreat)

Without comparison, there is no harm. After affecting their own interests, the people of the Lubion system quickly remembered the goodness of Atlas and lamented that they lived a good life in the past.

At the same time, more and more voices are beginning to criticize the self-government and Atlas Group's decision to decouple as stupid.

But in fact, this is also part of the Atlas Group's layout in the Lubion Galaxy.

If Amber were asked to evaluate himself, he would say without hesitation that he and Atlas had not done anything ‘good’.

After all, the premise for Atlas Group to leave a ‘good impression’ in the minds of the public was that Amber and his team sacrificed the interests of another group of people.

That is, the clerks and administrative staff who were laid off, most of whom were actually ‘ordinary people’ who needed to support their families.

At that time, after Atlas completed the optimization of the organizational structure and dismissed these clerks and administrative staff, most of them completely cut off their income and could only rely on the pitiful relief funds from the galaxy autonomous government to support their families.

Didn’t Amber and his team know about these situations?

Of course not, Amber and other senior executives of Atlas not only knew about these situations, but also knew very well that the lives of these dismissed people would be more difficult.

But in order to gain the support of most people in the future, Amber and his team could only choose to sacrifice this small number of people.

So from this perspective, Amber has always felt that he is also a ‘bad guy’, but a bad guy who is better packaged.

The development of events after this was basically similar to the eve of most of the riots that had occurred in the Federation before.

It is impossible for the galaxy autonomous government and those big companies to make concessions to the people. In the environment where profit is the main driver, it is better to believe that Amber is the "child of destiny" rather than believing that the capitalists can make concessions to the people.

Their final choice is also very "traditional", and it can even be said to be a reserved program for old-fashioned capitalists.

If I can't solve the problem, can't I solve the person who raised the problem?

Large-scale public opinion control began, and a large number of "outspoken birds" and opinion leaders were quickly taken down, and various demonstrations and strikes were also very efficiently "suppressed" - ironically, the military and police forces trained by the Atlas Group played an important role in this process.

If it were the previous situation, this relatively tough handling method would quickly quell the civil unrest.

But this time, the situation is a little different.

Most of the people in the Rubion galaxy have really experienced the "good times" when the Atlas Group entered, so they know that such a better life is not a fictional fantasy, but can really be achieved.

It's just that the current galaxy autonomous government and capitalists are unwilling to "sacrifice" their own interests like Atlas to let them live a better life.

Therefore, under the activities of some speculators and ambitious people, greater turmoil broke out one after another, and it was out of control.