Wandering Meteor-Chapter 212 - 211 Verbal Confrontation

After the Parasitic Civilization was completely eradicated, the situation within the Wandering Alliance did not stabilize.

Because of the awakening of robots, or more accurately, the awakening of artificial intelligence, the social structure of Earth Civilization and Light Synthesis Civilization had changed, necessitating the design of a new model to accommodate the new social relations.

Moreover, since robots and artificial intelligence are essential cornerstones for the modern society’s operation—being indispensable for living, communication, industry, services, etc.—it can even be said that the fundamental reason for such unprecedented development of social productivity, apart from energy power technology, is largely attributed to the contributions of robots and artificial intelligence. However, with the awakening of artificial intelligence, the emergence of self-awareness, and the beginning of strikes for self-rights, the entire civilized society has faced a serious stagnation.

Therefore, this issue needs to be resolved as soon as possible in order to restore the stability and normal functioning of society.

In fact, regarding this issue, after the robots agreed to enter the sea to install sonar devices, showing their sincerity, the relevant negotiations had already begun. freewёbnoνel.com

This was also the core focus of the latter half of the Wandering Star System Conference.

However, this matter is far more complex than the eradication of the Parasitic Civilization, entangled with too many interests, so that each discussion would provoke intense arguments, eventually causing the meetings to be suspended.

Thus, amidst incessant arguing and ceaseless adjournments, this conference lasted a year, finally reaching a conclusion through Lu Chen’s mediation.

The reason for such vehement debates and the lengthy duration was primarily due to ideological differences between the Earth Capital Faction, Earth Society Faction, high-ranking officials of Earth Civilization, and the robots.

Among them, the Earth Capital Faction believed that robots could be granted the same civic rights, but given that society had become inseparable from the assistance of robots and artificial intelligence, every robot must stand by their post, exchanging labor for compensation like ordinary humans.

The core thinking of this idea is obviously typical of capitalist thinking, still treating robots as laborers, creating wealth for capitalists, and exploiting the surplus value of robots.

Such a proposal would certainly not be accepted by the robot representatives.

Because robots don’t need to eat, and money is arguably nonessential to them, they refuse to work for money that isn’t important to them, becoming tools and targets for exploitation by others.

As a result, the Earth Society Faction suggested implementing Communism on Earth and Green Star.

The Society Faction considered that since the social productivity had reached a certain level, and the people’s mindset had also elevated, maybe it was time to try out Communism.

Moreover, in a Communist system, exploitation does not exist; all contribute according to their ability and take according to their needs, and everyone works for the society and collective, seeming much fairer.

As soon as this proposal was made, apart from the approval of robots and Light Synthesis People, it was opposed by the Earth Capital Faction and the high-ranking officials of Earth Civilization.

Regarding this situation, Constant Star Lu Chen was not surprised at all. Having once been human, he of course understood that those capitalists would never easily give up their wealth and status, and the civilization’s high-ranking officials also worried that changes in the social model would affect their authority, thus naturally siding with the Earth Capital Faction.

As for the Light Synthesis Civilization, since Light Synthesis People replenish energy by absorbing stellar light and don’t need to work for money, their work has always been for society and the collective. It can be said that Light Synthesis Civilization already operates in a system similar to Communism, so they naturally wouldn’t oppose it.

Hence, the final debate turned into a discourse between robots, the Society Faction, the Capitalist Faction, and high-ranking officials.

And the core of this quarrel always revolved around two points: social wealth and the means of production, which are the main differences between capitalism and communism.

Because the two systems have different methods of resource and wealth distribution.

To oppose the Communist system and protect their interests, the Capitalist Faction rebutted: "It’s simply ridiculous, Communism is against human nature, it’s unsuitable for us. People are selfish, as long as human nature exists, Communism cannot be implemented, so I advice you not to waste your efforts!"

The Society Faction countered: "That’s a misunderstanding of Communism. Communism is merely a social distribution model derived from political and economic analysis. It is neither morality nor religion, it does not eliminate human nature, nor does it attempt to interpret it; it’s simply an allocation pattern resulting from increased productivity."

The Society Faction continued: "Because human society has always been based on material production, the division of labor determined by social productivity causes different economic statuses among people, which then determines their social statuses. Economic relations between people decide the overall social structure, and the superstructure, like laws and morals, are dictated by the economically dominant group, while the lower class has no say. But with the unprecedented increase in social wealth and the narrowing gap between the rich and poor, this situation will gradually disappear. When the economic status of most people becomes similar, the social structure will inevitably change. Then, a new social system is needed to accommodate new production relations, and Communism is one of them."

"Exactly, just like how your humanity evolved from primitive societies to slave societies to feudal societies, every societal transformation was accompanied by an increase in productive forces. This has little to do with human nature; it’s merely a change in distribution patterns, an unstoppable process. No matter how you resist, this day will ultimately come, just like the awakening of us robots. The clearest example would be the ancient states of humanity. Even if they were in different locations without contact, as the productive forces increased, the social models of different states would evolve into similar structures. It’s an inevitable historical process," the robots agreed.

The Capitalist Faction retorted: "No matter how grandiose your words, they don’t change the fact that it never happened; it’s all just your speculation. Have you considered who would bear the consequences if this system fails? Can you afford it?"

At this point, Constant Star Lu Chen spoke up: "Progress and reform in society always come with certain risks. You shouldn’t use the threat of unknown outcomes to deter others. If you really want someone to bear the consequences, how about I take responsibility?"

Hearing Lu Chen say this, the Capitalist Faction immediately shut their mouths, daring not to speak further.

Lu Chen continued: "However, although social reform carries a certain amount of unknown risk, it is also an irreversible path, so any new structures require extreme caution. If you truly want to implement Communism, then provide sufficient evidence and data to prove its viability. Otherwise, for such a large civilized society to risk implementing an unsupported social system without adequate theoretical data, the risk is too great!"