Chapter 465
"Only dead Indians are good Indians."
Evenson’s question had barely left his mouth before Stephanie answered.
She had even borrowed the words of Theodore Roosevelt, the celebrated president whose face was carved into Mount Rushmore and who had received the Nobel Peace Prize.
It was, apparently, the kind of thing Stephanie considered a perfectly reasonable contribution to the discussion.
The irony wasn’t lost on Evenson.
Stephanie had only just recovered from the shattering of her religious beliefs, but there had been far too much good news afterward for her to stay depressed.
Hydra was going to rule the world.
Her father was going to become its ruler.
Which meant she was about to become a princess.
And since Malik had only one daughter, the position of heir apparent would practically have her name engraved on it.
Naturally, Stephanie felt she had every reason to contribute her thoughts on matters concerning the stability of the future regime.
Evenson covered his forehead with one hand and shook his head.
Then he glanced at Malik.
The older man’s expression was almost painfully awkward.
"Seriously, Mr. Malik..."
Evenson frowned as though he was genuinely struggling to phrase this politely.
"I think you should find your daughter some actual responsibilities to occupy her time. Otherwise, she’s going to start sounding like one of those idiots who use the internet as a punching bag for all their frustrations."
Stephanie’s choice of Roosevelt’s words made her position fairly obvious.
She had still failed to move beyond the idea of eliminating entire populations.
Unfortunately, that sort of rhetoric had a strange amount of support on the modern internet.
Most people who loudly advocated such things online tended to fall into one of two categories: teenagers whose hormones had overwhelmed their common sense, or adults whose real lives had left them frustrated and powerless, prompting them to vent their anger from behind a keyboard.
Even religious extremists were usually more straightforward.
They didn’t spend their time arguing online.
They acted.
"If you think I’m one of those idiots, Mr. Richter, you’re seriously mistaken."
Stephanie’s expression turned cold.
"No one likes being compared to a fool."
She leaned forward.
"Hydra has existed for thousands of years. Our archives contain some of the most complete records of human history. From those records, I’ve learned that no matter how a ruler governs, the principle can ultimately be reduced to one thing."
"Those who obey live. Those who resist die."
Her voice grew firmer.
"Once the world is unified, integrating different populations will be unavoidable. Smaller groups will have to be integrated into larger ones. But different peoples have different ancestry, cultures, languages, and histories. Some have spent centuries hating one another."
"That means integration will inevitably meet resistance."
"And that resistance won’t merely challenge Hydra’s authority. It will destabilize the entire system."
Her eyes hardened.
"So the problem has to be eliminated at its root."
Evenson’s expression didn’t change.
"Hm."
He considered her for a moment.
"You’re better than the idiots I was talking about. At least you’re thinking practically instead of letting your emotions run away with you."
He paused.
"But only slightly better."
Stephanie’s eyes narrowed.
"So my assessment of your argument is..."
Evenson shrugged.
"Good argument. Completely pointless."
Stephanie looked ready to fire back, but Malik quietly reached over and patted her hand.
Easy.
Malik was actually rather pleased with his daughter.
She had managed to produce a reasonably sophisticated argument. At the very least, she was far more promising than Baron Strucker’s son, who seemed to have been born for the sole purpose of eating, drinking, and wasting his father’s money.
Still, she had a long way to go.
She needed more experience.
More refinement.
More education.
"Control."
Evenson repeated the word Stephanie had used several times.
He had initially been looking at her, but now his gaze shifted toward Malik.
"That word has come up repeatedly."
He tilted his head.
"But what is the foundation of control, Mr. Malik?"
"People."
Malik smiled.
"Everything begins with people."
"Exactly."
Evenson nodded.
Of course, he understood what Malik meant.
Not equality.
Not compassion.
People as capital.
"The ruler of the world commands everything. Every person beneath him is a subject, and therefore an asset capable of producing greater value."
Evenson slowly rubbed his fingers together.
"If someone is actively trying to overthrow Hydra’s rule, destroying that person is perfectly reasonable."
"But if someone merely objects to a particular policy, and your response is to slaughter them by the thousands, or wipe out an entire population..."
He shook his head.
"That’s wasteful."
"A leader has to put interests first."
Malik turned toward Stephanie.
"Sacrifice the smallest amount of capital necessary to achieve the greatest result. Above all, eliminate pointless waste."
"What a wise ruler you are, Mr. Malik."
Evenson smiled.
Stephanie sat to the side, staring coldly at her father and Evenson as the two men effortlessly reached an agreement.
Seriously, which one of you is my father?
She was beginning to suspect Malik liked Evenson more than he liked her.
"Mr. Richter."
Malik straightened his suit and sat upright.
"I believe it’s time I gave you my answer personally."
His expression became serious.
"Hydra’s policy for promoting racial integration will be simple."
"Preferential treatment."
Stephanie blinked.
"I’ll introduce a series of policies favoring the smaller populations selected for integration."
Malik continued calmly.
"We’ll protect their languages and cultural traditions. We’ll place particular emphasis on their education. We could even provide preferential treatment in examinations, giving students from those groups additional points."
Stephanie stared at him.
"What?"
She looked at her father’s solemn expression.
He wasn’t joking.
Then she looked at Evenson.
He seemed genuinely satisfied with the proposal.
Stephanie couldn’t make sense of it.
"Yes, that would reassure the smaller populations and encourage them to support our rule. But wouldn’t deliberately favoring them create resentment among the larger populations?"
She frowned.
"It could intensify tensions between them. That hardly seems beneficial to our rule. We could end up making the situation worse."
"What exactly is a race, daughter?"
Malik’s eyes gleamed with confidence.
"A race is nothing more than a group united by common interests. Its history, culture, writing, language, even its religion, are simply standards that distinguish members from outsiders."
He leaned back.
"And how are those standards passed down?"
"People aren’t born knowing them."
Stephanie’s expression slowly changed.
"Education..."
"Exactly."
Malik smiled.
"I’ll give those groups substantial advantages in education. The goal is to encourage as many of them as possible to attend schools, where they’ll learn the history we’ve established and the language and writing systems we’ve selected."
"In other words, they’ll learn the new standards we’ve defined."
He paused.
"Give it a few generations."
"The racial label on their heads will become nothing more than a label."
Stephanie stared at him.
Malik turned toward Evenson.
"At that point, the world will truly have only one race."
His smile widened.
"We’ll all be..."
"Human."
...
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/Sinmerry