Yes, Prime Minister of Japan

Page 501

Memories of the Mexican favelas flooded her mind, and she suddenly realized that Mexico wasn't so bad after all, and Tokyo was even better.

As the cars drove off the highway, dozens of police vehicles surrounded the university, driving away slum tent camps near the campus. The burly policemen, driving modified police cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, loaded groups of slum dwellers into prison vans.

"Hey! Get lost, the Olympics are about to start, don't embarrass Los Angeles in the city anymore."

"What will international tourists think of California if they see you like this?"

People seem to think that Republican states are poorer, while Democratic states are relatively wealthy.

The reality is that due to imbalanced funding allocation and rampant corruption and waste, all US states are facing extreme financial strain after the massive stimulus measures implemented during the pandemic. They've set up LGBT departments to cover their tracks, often with the mindset of using minimal funds to clean up major problems. Lacking the funds to actually do anything, they can only put on a show of LGBT activities to pretend they're doing real work.

It's like swaying your hips on a stopped train and pretending you're moving forward.

Similarly, at the Los Angeles Olympics, covering disaster-stricken areas with green boards and relocating over 100,000 homeless people to surrounding urban and rural areas was seen as an attempt to demonstrate that disaster relief was already underway.

However, just like the construction bug that caused the Olympic Village to become a deadlock, California has invested billions of dollars to address its homelessness problem, but the number of homeless people is only increasing. To drive away the ever-growing homeless population, the only solution is to maintain an even larger police force. The more police there are, the more homeless people there will be.

In the end, the only solution was to put the homeless man in jail.

Watching the police sweep through the streets of Los Angeles like Japanese soldiers during World War II, arresting homeless people, evoked memories of the British and Americans of the last century, a time when being unemployed meant certain arrest.

In contrast to the meager budget, the private funds for political propaganda are plentiful.

Former California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced his candidacy for president, and his huge advertisements are displayed on the streets.

Mei pointed at the graffiti advertisement with a hint of sarcasm:

"Look, the latest political propaganda. Gavin Newsom's national campaign roadmap, 'Save USA, try again,' this guy definitely won't get elected."

Li Xinghe also joked:

"Save America again? That sounds like making a wish to God."

As the car turned into Long Beach's luxury tourist area, with hotels of all sizes lining the streets, it felt as if we had suddenly arrived in a peaceful and affluent neighborhood. Police officers stood friendly on the street giving directions to Olympic spectators, and volunteers with good complexions were chatting and flirting by the flowerbeds.

"Wow, this is terrifying... Why is this happening?"

Taifeng opened the car window and looked at the two worlds cut apart by a green belt.

Li Xinghe explains life's challenges to Xiao Taifeng:

"Whether it's LGBT or the movement to cut police budgets, they are just fig leaves used to cover up a core problem. It's as if as long as we heal this wound, we will immediately still be number one in the world. This is the trick that the American media loves to play. Over the years, even Americans have realized that the media is lying."

Little girl

He hurriedly asked:

"What is the core issue?"

In response, Li Xinghe skillfully offered the explanation her husband already knew:

"Of course, it's a systemic problem. It's bloated, inefficient, and incompetent. For example, we have 140 million personnel in the Army, Navy, and Air Force, but at the same time, the Department of Veterans Affairs alone has 50 employees, we have more than 600 overseas bases, and the number of civilian personnel in the military exceeds 80. This doesn't even include the number of people in various veterans' welfare units and other peripheral facilities. This means that there's a civil war in the military, where a poorly fed Marine Corps soldier has to face an Asian administrative officer and a fat black woman in shorts. It's really hard to say who will win."

At this point, Jill kicked Li Xinghe:

"Stop telling those cheesy jokes, tell us something practical instead."

Previously, she was the kind of unlucky common soldier that Li Xinghe described as someone who couldn't afford to eat.

Li Xinghe could only continue to expose America's weaknesses:

“Okay, baby, let me give you a more effective example. The United States has nearly 30 million government employees in the broad sense, which is an extremely large number in a population of over 300 million. But the number of people in the American family we traditionally understand, with one husband and one wife, two children and two dogs, one job supporting the whole family, and a suburban mansion with two cars, is less than 30 million.”

This is a very interesting data comparison. The traditional image of an American middle-class family actually has fewer members than a government employee. The 3000 million figure was from a survey conducted before the 2008 financial crisis. Multiple surveys in recent years have also confirmed that this population figure is shrinking.

By this time, the number of wealthy American families where the husband can support the entire family with one job, own a house in the suburbs, have two children without worries, and take vacations every year has dwindled to less than 3000 million. Even though different survey reports in the United States define the American middle class as over 1.5 million, the standard of this definition has shrunk considerably from the luxurious and affluent traditional American families depicted in the media offensive initiated during the Reagan era.

For example, the Pew Research Center defines middle-class households as those with an income between two-thirds and two times the median income.

According to Pew's calculations, 70% of the Chinese population is middle class.

"Wow……"

Taifeng sat in the back seat of the car, surrounded by tall American women, but she felt as if she had just traveled to another world.

"We've arrived at the Regent Hotel."

The car was parked by a scenic lake.

Everyone got off the bus and carried their luggage into the hotel.

Tai Feng, still somewhat confused, asked:

"We just came from Los Angeles Airport, crossed downtown, passed Inglewood and Torrance, followed Highway 405 to California State University, Long Beach, and then checked into the Regent Long Beach 4-star hotel, and we saw all this?"

Jill took off her sunglasses, squatted down, and pinched Tai-Feng's cheek:

"Yeah, we drove through downtown and made it to our destination alive. Now you know why Americans love road movies, right?"

It felt like being in a war-torn city in Iraq or Syria, having just survived a firefight between government forces and rebels.

Another unexpected thing happened when checking into the hotel: because the California government had not fully paid for the accommodation, Li Xinghe and his companions received an additional notice stating that they would need to pay a second bill for their food, drinks, and small items used there.

What do you think?

Ping Yingmei was incredulous and asked Li Xinghe in a low voice.

Li Xinghe spread his hands:

What can I say?

The US government is far too bloated, incompetent, and inefficient.

As a country that hastily ascended to global hegemony without completing centralized consolidation, the United States, while claiming to have a so-called 'small government,' retains an extremely large, inefficient, and incompetent ruling government. It exploits its people with multiple layers of taxes—federal, state, and county—and fails to channel the collected revenue into effective governance; instead, it is all embezzled.

Of the trillions of dollars the federal government spends on the military, it would be a miracle if even one-fifth of it were actually used effectively; the government spends trillions of dollars on social security and health insurance, yet healthcare remains incredibly poor; the federal government subsidizes local governments with over $5000 billion, but local governments squander and go bankrupt every year; federal education spending is exorbitantly high, and student loans are notorious worldwide.

So, where do those trillions of dollars go every year?

Nobody knows, nobody can find out.

Therefore, Li Xinghe highly praised himself, at least he kept accounts of all his spending and ensured that all his purchases were in physical form. This made him a top-notch efficiency pioneer in the United States.

As I climbed the stairs, I saw a group of beautiful young women squatting in the stairwell eating tiny vegetarian burgers. They were the hostesses responsible for greeting guests. However, it seemed that the government's funding was insufficient; some of them still had needle marks on their arms.

Tai Feng stuck out her tongue and hugged Ping Yingmei's leg tightly:

"Compared to the people here, I feel like my mom and I aren't so bad off."

To be fair, Japan's model is already one of the least flawed among developed countries. So, although Tao's life is miserable and she was bullied at school, she hasn't suffered too much hardship in life.

The group booked a large private room. Jill jumped up and down as she opened the door to welcome Taifeng:

"Welcome to hell, little girl. You're about to have some unforgettable days."

This gives you a closer look at America than watching a road movie.

At the door, Li Xinghe also received a call from his American boss:

"Welcome to Los Angeles, Big G."

The author says:

Author's Note: Thank you all for your support. Here's 5000 words. I'll summarize the political tidbits I can provide and add a touch of road movie flair.

Chapter 553: Assassinating Trump! (4600 words)

What should you prepare for training before heading to the competition venue for the Olympics?

If this were in China, then you'd probably just need to bring your phone, camera, and other equipment.

If you are in Paris, you must be prepared to be robbed or stolen from.

In Los Angeles, it's not just about preventing theft and robbery, but also about preventing sexual assault, regardless of gender.

The Japanese Olympic team, also staying at the Regent Hotel, joined the nearby Chinese, South Korean, and North Korean teams, traveling together in an armed bus escorted by police cars to the training ground. Despite their constant verbal sparring, when personal safety is truly at stake, traveling together is always the safest option.

Musashi Hachimajo raised the pistol in her hand:

"I'll be in charge of security; I don't have a match today."

Li Xinghe took out a diaper and solemnly instructed Taifeng:

"Remember, never stay in an enclosed space with any man you know or don't know, always stay with your mother and your 'bamo girl' (a term of endearment for women), and never go anywhere without a toilet. Even if you wet your pants, never look for a toilet on the nearby street unless you can find a place like Starbucks."

The United States is like North America's India, and India is like South Asia's America. While the instincts of mammals are not significantly different, this might be relatively safe in East Asia, but in the United States, where unusual species abound, Li Xinghe's concerns are very valid.

So Hirae and Taifeng both started using diapers and brought a large bag to distribute to the other female athletes.

Going to the toilet is a major source of risk for women.

In India, for example, due to a widespread lack of toilets and the prohibition against defecating and urinating at home, Indian women are often forced to relieve themselves in the open in fields. This makes them vulnerable to being ambushed by villagers. This has even led to the emergence of criminal gangs that specifically target women relieving themselves at night in fields. Most women who are victimized can only silently endure the abuse and try to avoid it by going in groups next time. Many Indian girls, aged 0-16, are raped or gang-raped while using public restrooms, and even as adults, they dare not speak out, as resistance is often met with immediate death.

This toilet model, similar to that in India, is also quite prevalent in the United States. Especially in impoverished apartments, public housing, and slums lacking toilets, large numbers of men like to squat near the toilets and prey on women who are trying to urinate.

This group has almost become a street sex resource that can be traded.

Several women with extensive experience living in the United States were still giving Xiao Taifeng some advice:

"Never let your guard down. Never refuse any drinks or snacks offered to you by anyone."

"Anyone who tells you that we're looking for you is lying. We will call you."

"20% of American women will be sexually assaulted at least once in their lifetime, 30% of female U.S. military personnel will be sexually assaulted, and 6.5% of American women lose their virginity to a perpetrator. Little Phoenix, you must be careful."

"Keep this safe. In case of any incident, immediately sound the alarm, and nearby agents and police will come to your rescue."

Tai Feng nodded repeatedly.

These are all lessons learned from the experiences of American women. If one is careless, one is very likely to fall into a trap and become one of the fifth who are violated. This is also a kind of strange tale based on North American rules.

At this moment, Tao Feng finally understood why Jill had said, "Welcome to Hell."

Because they really grew up in such a place.

……

After the delegations from China, Japan, South Korea, and North Korea departed, Lee Sung-ha, through internal liaison within the US military, requested that the National Guard continue to be deployed to protect roads in the lower city areas, clear out crime clusters, and crack down on high-crime communities.

The California National Guard readily agreed.

This is one of the few deadly moments when it is legal to hunt down Black communities.

After submitting the application, Li Xinghe complained:

"This is so idiotic. Who on earth put the Olympic venues in the heart of a crime-ridden city?"

It is well known that crime rates vary significantly across different neighborhoods in the United States. Unfortunately, a considerable number of game venues are located in downtown Los Angeles, a region with extremely high crime rates, because no new venues were built for this year's games.

"Then you should ask why the crime rate in the city is so high? That question is racially discriminatory, but thankfully we don't have that skin color here."

Maria joked about another rule-breaking story in California and the United States.

However, they still instinctively looked around, afraid of being caught making racist remarks.

Several women simultaneously looked around, as if they themselves were part of a demonic group suspected of plotting to murder Christ. The red line of racial discrimination had been awakened by last night's gunfire.

Yesterday, Li Xinghe and his group did not have any happy shooting. After all, they could not get excited amidst the gunfire and sirens that rang from dusk until 5 a.m.

They also had a mission today.

Starting from Long Beach, driving a military-grade Ford Mustang, we continued south along the Pacific Coast Expressway, with bustling beach resorts and seaside vacation boats as a backdrop, and a large-scale crime district just a wall away.

The further south the car drove, the fewer crime districts there were. When we arrived at Huntington Beach, it felt like we were in the harmonious and peaceful main urban area of ​​a developed country. Palm trees, beaches, international resorts, bikini-clad beauties on the beach, jet ski surfing, and tourists and residents having a blast—it was like a completely different world from the downtown area we had passed through the day before.

"There are no fire refugees here."

"Well, after all, the main firewood burning is in the north. I heard that the ruins have been cordoned off with green iron plates."

The ladies chatted idly.

Due to the increasingly severe wildfires over the years, land prices in affluent areas north of Los Angeles have continued to decline, while land prices in places like the southern coast and Irvine have continued to rise, showing a trend of decline in the north and rise in the south.

But Li Xinghe did not stay there.

He floored the accelerator and sped south along the highway across the Pacific Ocean off the west coast.

Crossing the Santa Clementi leads to the San Onnofi Nuclear Power Plant in California, where there are numerous National Guard inspections and several military bases lined up along the coast, stretching to the end where the cliffs meet the shore.

Their destination was San Diego.

The main port of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, where most of the Navy's ships are based, also houses a large number of military personnel and offices.

Upon arriving here, Li Xinghe had the unsettling feeling of watching a Jin Ke La (a popular Chinese herbal medicine) commercial; the powerful cry of "San Diego, America!" seemed to still echo in his ears. Who would have thought that the city in that bizarre advertisement was actually this massive military port standing before him?

With their passes, Li Xinghe and his group entered the naval port without hindrance.