Munitions Empire-Chapter 939 - The Importance of the 862 Public Opinion Front

Chapter 939: The Importance of the 862 Public Opinion Front Chapter 939: The Importance of the 862 Public Opinion Front At this very moment, Sofia really feels like reaching into the realms of education and public opinion, for they truly are places where one can make money and get things done.

Education is a rather magical thing; in fact, when it comes to topics about education, whatever you say can make sense.

If you emphasize strict discipline, then you can proudly wield the arguments that strict teachers produce standout students, and that corporal punishment is part of an esteemed pedagogical tradition that, indeed, has shown some degree of effectiveness over thousands of years.

But on the flip side, if you talk about joyful education, reducing burdens to increase efficiency, that also seems perfectly logical. Anyway, it’s all just talk about how much students suffer from too much homework, lacking individuality and childhood, and having their personalities suppressed—it wouldn’t hurt to correct that too.

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As a parent, some staunchly argue not to always control your children, lest they become defiant and the loss outweighs the gain; we should encourage and praise them more, and criticize and educate them less.

Yet, others feel blindly maintaining a child’s self-esteem can hinder their mental development, ultimately leaving them overly fragile, unable to face difficulties, leading to adolescents who escape reality, and are prone to depression or worse.

You see, if you’re too controlling and strict, the child lacks individuality and happiness; but if you’re laid-back and lenient, the child becomes rebellious and disrespectful, even to the point of harboring suicidal thoughts. You want to strike a balance? But who knows exactly where that appropriate level of leniency lies?

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If teachers assign homework, some parents complain about the heavy burden and lack of freedom their children face; but if teachers don’t assign homework, other parents will accuse them of neglecting their responsibilities.

After all is said and done, who can claim they’re absolutely right?

In the end, it’s like diagnosing with traditional Chinese medicine, landing back on an amusingly exasperating notion: “teach students according to their abilities”… But how exactly do you tailor education to each student and apply the right solutions? Nobody says, because nobody can say.

Education has been crassly turned into a mystical art, leaving teachers without authority, parents in utter despair, and students wasting their lives. Then, ten to twenty years later, everyone has an epiphany: Oh! After all that commotion, we’re back where we started.

Looking at the young Americans who benefited from joyous education now proclaiming laundry detergent cures viruses and that a flat Earth is the ultimate truth, does anyone remember who was the first to sing high praises for American joyous education? Should this person be killed? Is the meaning of promoting joyful education to cultivate a bunch of idiots?

Who still recalls that bastard claiming Japanese kindergarteners had to run 20 kilometers with heavy loads at summer camp, and whether we should just shoot that bastard with a barrage of random gunfire? Who can strictly judge and hold that one accountable for their malice?

It’s the same in the realm of public opinion as it is in education. In these arenas, it’s easiest for management to be chaotic and for enemies to exploit the mess. That’s why the front lines of public opinion and education are always the bloodiest and most merciless.

Why have leaders from ancient times implemented policies to keep the population ignorant? Because when there are too many who know just enough to think they understand but don’t; these people are easily incited and swept into opposition. Decision-makers fear this half-baked knowledge the most, so they would rather rule over fools!

If everyone were incredibly smart, there would be no need for management—everyone could just perform their duties. But humans ultimately are selfish and not quite smart enough, so leaders have always been necessary.

If everyone were a fool, it would be an easy fix: just have the leaders come up with plans—no arguments, and everyone marches forward together.

The real fear is of those who have a superficial understanding, who think they’re knowledgeable but actually understand nothing!

This group understands nothing, but once they get a smidgen of knowledge, they become obstinate with their preconceived notions. If there are too many such people, you get what’s called “misled public opinion,” which then pressures decision-makers into making incorrect choices.

If the leadership tightens control over public opinion, cries of “censorship” and “silencing voices” arise, with the learned tossing around maxims like “The best way to deal with dissent is to prevent it before it starts”… But if you don’t tighten control, any public sentiment can spiral out of control with the help of those with ulterior motives.

Thus, in such fields, no matter what you say or do, there are no precise standards—despite making no sense at all, people can talk nonsense and confuse others as long as they talk loud enough, even managing to confuse right with wrong.

They start by advocating ‘critical thinking’ and a ‘skeptical mindset’ in education, then turn around and make people criticize everything, doubt everything.

Taking concepts meant for exploring the field of knowledge and awkwardly shoehorning them into everyday life, conspiracy theories are inflated unchecked, driving a wedge between the state and the people. No matter what’s done, just criticizing, doubting, and negating seems appropriate.

If you’re quick to respond, they’ll say you had a premeditated script; if you’re slow, they’ll call you a backroom dealer, incompetent, and negligent… Critiquing from the outside is the easiest thing: after all, finding fault doesn’t cost anything.

In such areas without concrete evaluation standards, where any argument can seem valid, depending purely on the volume of the speaker and whether they have a conscience, it’s all too easy for infiltration to occur, for control to be commandeered, to be used as invisible weapons for killing, to bring about the downfall of a people, the destruction of a nation.

Compared to military weapons, pouring money into the literary and art circles is a far more efficient way to “kill” people: with 10 million you buy rocket artillery and in a year you might kill a few thousand people? On the other hand, with 10 million you bribe a celebrity influencer, trapping a million clueless fans, ruining their lives forever. Can you imagine the scale of harm inflicted?

These fans, brainwashed by celebrities, can not only waste a nation’s resources, but also destroy its convictions, and even hold it back at critical moments.

By comparison, stirring up trouble in these areas offers an incredibly high cost-performance value. This is why Tang Mo, an arms dealer, regards it as his most important market and holds a tight grip on these positions, aggressively eroding the entire world with unrestrained firepower.

He understands this game all too well, along with the power it holds. That’s why he dabbles with newspapers in Brunas, established the world’s largest radio network, and in Chang’an, he couldn’t wait to roll out television sets.

Before anyone else was ready, Tang Mo planned to have this weapon, more powerful than atomic bombs, in his grip and turned it into his fastest piercing dagger, his most lethal poison.

With this weapon, he could receive applause after taking lives, he could dress up an invasion as a grand rescue mission!

Moreover, only by holding ground in this field can he prevent the enemy from finding any foothold. The terror of losing the battle of public opinion is much worse than losing territory.

This is also why, when the scandal involving the Bailu Quartet erupted in the school, Tang Mo immediately elevated it to an issue that could shake national policy!

He intended to nip these issues in the bud and was not planning on retreating an inch in this field! Having chosen a path he believed to be correct, he had no intention of listening to others’ advice: because, as mentioned, while those suggestions seem right, they are of no practical use.

What Tang Mo wanted to do was to leverage his reputation, choose a steadfast path, and not deviate or alter it in any way!

Since he had chosen the road of respecting teachers and advocating lecture-based education, any notion of joyful education could take a hike. What Tang Country needed now was a large number of immediately employable junior talents, not to focus on cultivating individual talents and personalities!

Sofia also saw the potential benefits of this, but she lacked Tang Mo’s expertise and clear vision.

She only felt that propaganda and education were indeed promising fields – but she wasn’t as resolute nor as swift to act as Tang Mo.

She couldn’t do what Tang Mo had done: these powerful tools had to complement hard power, and while effective, they required substantial investment. She didn’t have the means to play a game as aggressively expansive as Shireck Consortium, even at its peak, couldn’t achieve what the Great Tang Empire had accomplished today.

To what extent had the Great Tang Empire controlled public opinion? Sofia guessed and guessed, but she couldn’t imagine.

Through local gangs and some of the controlled Nobility merchants, Tang Mo had seized control of more than half of the newspapers in various nations, at least dominating a great portion of radio broadcasting channels.

These channels normally appear innocuous, but would sporadically spread various harmless-seeming views, as demanded by Tang Country’s intelligence department.

Such as making women more materialistic, promoting consumerism – seemingly stimulating consumption and increasing taxes, in line with the rulers’ interests—yet, in fact, eroding the habits of saving, wearing away citizens’ virtues of thrift and hard work, and increasing debt, overstretching the economy.

But then again, isn’t stimulating consumption to boost the internal economy the right thing to do? Here starts the debate again – hold your horses, debate away, keep debating until extinction, and you might never conclude.

Tang Mo hoped that in the future, the so-called respected teachers of other nations would only talk about money and beauty. He hoped that anyone speaking of ideals would be labeled a hypocrite.

He wished that in other countries, students wouldn’t dare question the nonsense spouted by their teachers, and that motivational speakers would encourage excellent youth to come to Tang Country for marriage and relationships.

He dreamt that one day he could buy all the movie theaters in the world, only to show films produced by Tang Country. And he also hoped that textbooks in all countries would portray Tang Country’s conquest of Qi as a righteous and great victory.

In short, he wished to one day turn Tang Country into a beacon, to accomplish deeds he had hated, envied, and couldn’t achieve in his past life.

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