Chapter 516 - 238: Ambition Versus Ambition
"So, the democratic system they designed wasn’t meant to elect saints."
"Instead, it was to build a defensive system that prevents bad people from doing bad things."
Roosevelt extended his hand, drawing a circle in the air.
"This is a spirit deeply rooted in the ethos of the frontier."
"It acknowledges that the world is savage, competition is brutal, and resources are scarce."
"In this jungle, nothing can be taken for granted."
"You only gain as many rights as you are willing to surrender."
"A system where you don’t have to give anything up, and yet everyone else naturally sides with you? That’s impossible in this world."
As Leo listened, he felt a fog in his mind begin to lift.
"The logic of surrendering rights?" Leo asked. "Like... a transaction?"
Roosevelt nodded.
"That is the core of the American social contract theory."
"All rights come at a price."
"If you want public safety, you have to surrender a portion of your privacy and accept the gaze of surveillance cameras."
"If you want low taxes, you have to accept dilapidated public schools and a two-year wait for public healthcare."
"If you want freedom of speech, you have to tolerate the lunatics and charlatans shouting on the street."
"There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and there’s no such thing as a free right."
"This is even more true when it comes to political participation."
Roosevelt continued.
"In the United States, democracy isn’t a form of welfare. It’s an investment."
"The system never naturally favors the weak, nor does it favor silent bystanders."
"You want the law to favor you? You want policies to look out for you?"
"Then you have to pay the price."
"You pay with votes, with donations, with your voice—even with violence or lawsuits."
"Many people criticize the money in American politics, saying Lobbying Groups have corrupted democracy."
"But in the underlying logic of American politics, this is considered reasonable."
"Whoever pays the cost is the one who gets a say."
"Why does Campbell look down on Wall Street’s money? Because he believes he controls another, more expensive currency: the traditional power of the Pennsylvania families, and what he believes is his ability to mobilize grassroots public opinion."
Leo thought of Campbell’s arrogant expression.
"So that’s how it is."
"So, conflict is inevitable?" Leo asked.
"It’s necessary."
Roosevelt replied, his voice echoing in the mental space.
"The function of American democracy is not to achieve consensus, but to manage conflict."
"James Madison made it very clear in The Federalist Papers: Ambition must be made to counteract ambition."
"The Department of Justice against the President, the Governor against the legislature, capital against public opinion."
"Let these powers tear at each other until they reach a fragile equilibrium."
"That is Madison’s logic. Don’t try to eliminate ambition; let it be consumed in the clash."
"This system was intentionally designed to be extremely inefficient."
"Because in their view, an efficient government is usually the fastest path to tyranny."
"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary."
"But we are not angels, and those who govern us are not angels either."
Roosevelt looked at Leo, his gaze profound, as if piercing through time to see the game that had been played on this land for two hundred years without cease.
"In this system, for those with chips to play, the United States is paradise. For those with none, it’s hell."
"Campbell has his family, Saint Claude has his capital. They both have a seat at the table."
"But your people, those who live in the Hill District, those who haul cargo at the docks—they have empty hands."
"So, what you need to do is consolidate these people who have no chips, turn them *into* your chips, and force a seat for them at that table."
Roosevelt raised a finger, pointing into the void as his tone grew impassioned.
"This, Leo, is the very source of your power."
"A single commoner shouting in the street is just noise, scattered by the wind and silenced by a baton."
"But when ten thousand, a hundred thousand, common people act in concert for the same goal..."
"...it is no longer just a sound."
"Your ability to incite public opinion is, in itself, a terrifyingly powerful force."
"So, the logic of American democracy can be summed up in a single sentence."
"An armed confrontation based on mutual distrust."
"It acknowledges the selfishness of human nature and the savagery of power."
"It demands that every participant bring their own chips to the negotiating table—money, votes, family influence, or the courage for a desperate struggle—to fight for their seat."
"In this logic, the silent have no rights, and those who don’t contribute have no protection."
"So, Leo, this is why we are always fighting."
"Because this is America’s adversarial democracy."
"If you don’t go and take it, no one’s going to give it to you."
Roosevelt paused, his tone suddenly shifting to a stern warning.
"But you must always be careful."
"Because the power you wield is the most difficult to control."
"You carry the prayers of countless people, so you must also bear their countless desires."
"As long as your ambition is not yet satisfied, as long as their hunger is not yet sated, you must keep fighting forever. You cannot stop for a single moment."
"The moment you stop, the moment you can’t deliver on those promises, the hope you’ve inspired will instantly curdle into disappointment and rage."
"It will turn on you."
"You’ll be smashed on the shore by the very wave you created."
Roosevelt’s voice gradually faded, leaving only a final echo, like the lingering resonance of a war drum.
"Leo, never cast yourself as a saint in the people’s eyes. Saints don’t make mistakes, but you will. The moment you do, you’ll be damned beyond redemption."
「His thoughts returned to the present.」
On the television screen, Campbell had finished his press conference and was leaving amidst a barrage of camera flashes.
’Now, it’s my turn.’
Leo put down his pen, stood up, and picked up the phone on his desk, dialing Ethan’s number.
"Ethan, get ready. I’m holding a press conference."
Ethan, on the other end of the line, had clearly not yet processed this. "When? But the Governor just..."
"It’s precisely because he just finished his performance that we need to follow up immediately," Leo cut him off.
"Since he won’t give us a way to survive, we’ll find our own."
"We’re going to show all of Pennsylvania what happens when the silent are no longer silent, when those who have paid their dues start demanding their return."
"Let’s see if this so-called democratic order can actually hold up."
Leo hung up the phone.
He walked to the window and looked out at the sky.
The storm was finally about to break.
And he would no longer be a small boat in the storm.
He was going to be the one who commanded the storm.