The Great Empire--Bilingual Edition

by Joaquim Augusto Ferreira Barbosa De Melo

  A few years later...

  With the awareness of the populations and the implementation of the recommended solutions, national life began to breathe more efficiency and financial health. It had long been felt that cities were the place where these negative effects reached record values nationwide. Among the factors that weighed most heavily on the accounting of waste in cities were those related to the transport of people and the misuse of consumer goods and energy. To overcome the identified problems of waste in cities, in-depth studies, some of them contradictory, were now made, pointing to a completely new approach. The scientific studies were now focused on rethinking the cities as a whole. Many experts were critical of the existence of megacities, but said that they should be of a minimum size that would justify their economic viability. Almost all, however, converged on saying that isolated settlements as well as dwellings outside urban areas should be harshly discouraged and even eliminated. Almost all the findings of these studies pointed to the need to build modulated cities with high levels of efficiency and sufficiency. Buildings should therefore be rethought to a useful life limit, at the end of which they would be completely destroyed and rebuilt. In this regard, many lawyers also argued that the duration of ownership of buildings should be changed. The right of ownership should be assigned to a finite time, with variable location, i.e., the right of temporal ownership of the real estate would take precedence over the right of permanent ownership. Thus, a building that had reached its life limit would be replaced by another building built by the State, and the owner would be compensated for the residual value corresponding to the previous building. In other words, the owner of the whole or fractions of the property kept only their ownership rights until they completed this limit of life, for example, one hundred years. During the intermediate period of that useful life the title would continue to be transferable, either by death of the acquirer or by sale, but only valid within that period. The State would continue to be the guarantor of the registration of that property up to that limit.

  When Snu presented the first joint report of the University Centers to the President of the Republic, there was a sign of visible appreciation. It was the first time since her appointment as an advisor that she felt that something good had been achieved. Snu had not yet completed the first task requested by the President, but she managed to open up an alternative path within the objectives outlined. Although a significant number of Statistics Institutes in the countries contacted had not responded and others had done so with insufficient data, she had achieved a great victory. That study made the whole world aware of the need to rethink and treat waste. That success had brought to Snu a new breath of life, having thought to herself: “even when the tasks seem impossible to us, the miracle always happens when we have the courage to start the way and face all the challenges”.

  When Snu arrived home, there was a new message on her answering machine - once again, William was asking her impatiently for news of her return. Several months had passed since William’s return to his country, and in their brief telephone calls she had been very reserved in her words – Snu hadn’t told William anything about her new professional status yet. She understood, therefore, that her friend felt some perplexity and even frustration, because over the almost ten years she had been in New York, William had been a very close companion. For Snu, William was an increasingly distant friend to whom she did not want to return. She felt that her affective life was now conditioned by her new professional activity, deciding therefore that she would just wait for William to try and call again instead. In the future, she had to be direct and avoid creating more illusions for William.

  The next morning, Snu was called to the president’s office as an emergency. That circumstance made her relive old worries and fears. Upon arriving in the adjoining desk room of the President’s office, she had confirmation that something strange was going on.

  - You’ll have to wait a while; Mr. President has just received a private visit.

  She was informed by the secretary.

  - I’ll come back later if you think it’s more convenient! - Snu said.

  - Maybe that won’t be necessary! When the Mr. President, receives his mother, in general, it doesn’t take long...

  The Secretary had not yet finished her sentence and the President was already making himself heard on the intercom:

  - When Dr. Snu arrives, ask her to come in.

  - She is here, Mr. President!

  - Let her come in!

  At that moment Snu was heartbroken and apprehensive about the reason for such urgency. In the moments that followed, she felt her face turn red. When she entered the office, she realized the reason for so much inner agitation. A well-dressed and haughty lady was standing by the President’s table with her back to the door. From the back she looked young because of her slender silhouette, but considering the Secretary’s previous words; she could only be the President’s mother. When Snu entered, she looked in front and the President commented:

  - This is the Assistant I told you about!

  For seconds Snu stood still, intimidated by that majestic figure, a penetrating and magnetic look.

  - I’ll see you later!

  The lady said, heading for the exit in large, cadenced and light steps.

  The soft snap of the door as it closed woke Snu from the magnetism to which she had been fixed from the first instant. All the time Snu felt herself in the sight of a camera, observed in detail by that penetrating gaze. It was the first time she met such an enigmatic person, with such an intense and deep gaze. Perhaps this was why Snu felt, in the initial moments, clumsy and unsure of herself. The President’s first words made her come out of her inner monologue.

  -I read the University Centers’ report on waste and made a decision. I want to hear the Rectors personally! I need you to contact them to arrange a meeting as soon as possible.

  - I’ll do it right away, Mr. President. I’ll see with your secretary your availability for that appointment.

  - Thank you! That’s all for now!

  When Snu left the office, she was caught up in several personal reflections: “How strange! Whether all this urgency was due to the report (which was delivered more than twenty days ago), or on the contrary, everything had to do with the presence of that lady?! And today the President has an overloaded agenda!” Snu, on leaving the office, heard several conversations confirming her doubts:

  -I would like to get a summary of the main applications we have in public debt in the various countries, as well as the ratios per GDP.

  The President had barely finished his call and his Secretary was already speaking again.

  - I have your mother on the line.

  - Put it through! - Said the President, dryly.

  Snu rushed out of his office so as not to disturb him further. The day was particularly intense for the President, but apparently his mother had not heard about it.

  -Yes! Don’t worry! I’ll be on time for dinner later!

  Outside the office, Snu noticed a large number of people who had just arrived - it was an American diplomatic delegation that was to be received by the President, followed by a lunch hosted by him.

  For the President, the lunches had the peculiarity of serving as an extension to diplomacy. For him a good meal was always a facilitating resource in dealing with diplomatic, business and family matters. The affairs of state absorbed him throughout the day. When he left the palace for his mother’s house, it was already late. Despite the facilitating action of the police escort to his car, the crossing along the city was made with particular difficulty. When he arrived, he could read on his mother’s face the displeasure for his delay.

  - Mom, I couldn’t get here any sooner, as promised! I hope you won’t put me on the blacklist of non-compliant politicians.

  - Don’t worry, I know it is part of the job.

  That answer was far beyond the meaning of her words. It had always been the sturdy pillar of the family structure - the setba
cks of each day did not have the same meaning as for other people. For the President, his mother was an example of life! At the forefront of her character were human values, followed by the courage to face adversities whenever they arise, with a permanent dedication to work towards her goals. She had always wanted her earthly passage to be a path of high added value, for social and personal benefit. She never accepted a life centered on frivolity or idleness, letting herself be led by the winds of occasion. Her lifestyle was to make good use of time, seeking at every moment and every day to deserve to have been chosen by Nature, among the millions of other alternatives. She believed that the important thing was to reach the end of each day and enjoy a comforting journey of a full and happy life (based on building the happiness of others, as much as possible). Perhaps this was why his mother was so intervening, yet respecting of the privacy of others. For all this the President had in his mother a particular esteem and attention - although sometimes her irreverence’s surprised him. Absorbed by these thoughts, the President did not pay attention to the question his mother had just asked him.

  - That’s a pretty one, that counselor of yours, what’s her name again?!

  -I’m sorry, what?

  - I asked for your assistant’s name!

  - Snu. She worked as a broker in the New York office of the Ministry of Economy, but why so curious?!

  - You’ll have to start thinking about your offspring sometime! I consider your counselor a good suitor.

  - What are you getting at, Mom?!

  - Time is inexorable, as you know, it is always adding up, second after second, even when we are not aware of it!

  - Speaking of time! I have a concern I want to discuss with you.

  Whenever the President felt that the conversation was not to his liking, he would zigzag the interlocutor away from the subject.

  - If I can help!

  - It’s a complex matter, but I promise not to take up more than a few minutes.

  - Just say it!

  - I believe I have already told you that we currently have a high value of liquidity, resulting from a positive balance of trade. Thanks to the sustained growth of our economy, liquidity has been used to improve domestic resources, but also for investments abroad, especially public debt obligations in several countries. The question I ask you is, “isn’t it a high risk to invest so much money in those countries, when some of them have a strong chance of defaulting?!”

  - That question, coming from whoever it comes from, makes me think that behind there is another one. What you want to say is that by buying public debt from these countries, you gain increased political influence, you benefit from commercial penetration and, at the end of the day, in the face of such non-compliance, you gain possession of the goods given in attachment. The path is that of a winner in all areas, which prefigures your style very well. Of course, you can always apply this liquidity only internally, but there you are creating the conditions for an escalation of consumption and inflation. I doubt that the latter is the best option!

  - Would you mind being more specific?!

  -With the increase in purchasing power and the growth in domestic demand, inflation tends to rise and, with it, a loss of competitiveness in exports. With the purchase of public debt you are increasing the growth of the economy by strengthening exports due to political influence in new markets and, association with new industrial partners, dragging the country to a strengthening of technology and quality, thus improving the installed internal capacity. As for the financial dependence of these countries, which are invariably becoming increasingly indebted, they also bring you the possibility of a future territorial strategy of domination, if not reinforcement of world influence, only this time without the need to resort to war.

  - You’re going too far, don’t you think?! If we were in the summer, I’d say the sun exposure was harming your health!

  - That may be true, but I think that’s what you thinking! With this I am not comparing you with some conquerors of the past that, by brute force of weapons, annexed territories, crushed populations and proclaimed themselves emperors! They became warlords, they built domains, and they launched destruction and a great deal of suffering among peoples. The “ego” of these conquerors of the past increased; they have had a place in history, but at the cost of the unhappiness of the crowds! But you, on the contrary, will win that place without bloodshed and with the legitimacy of powers to perpetuate that Empire through the centuries!

  - Mom, it is difficult to talk to you today! You’re megalomaniac! Congratulations, dinner was divine! But I have to go, otherwise I’ll run out of references and I won’t be able to tell if I’m in your house or some Olympus having a meal with a goddess.

  Shortly after, the President said goodbye to his mother. On his return trip he tried to divert the thoughts brought by that absurd conversation! His mother was a sensible and logical woman, but this time he did not recognize her. The next day, after a poor night’s sleep, the first rays of the sun made him feel he needed to have a different mood. His mother’s words disturbed his sleep, stubbornly not letting him sleep, and this gave rise to a strong headache. For that day he had a busy schedule, so he had to free himself from that painful pain. When he arrived at the office he requested the presence of one of the doctors on duty.

  - Mr. President, the doctor has arrived. - Informed the secretary.

  - Tell him to come in.

  - Good morning, Mr. President! What can I do for you?

  - I’ve got a really bad headache!

  - Mr. President, the solution is right there in the back of your office.

  - You mean that device they brought in days ago?!

  - Precisely!

  - Do you really think that’s the solution to this pain?!

  - The research office that developed it has high hopes for its future. According to them, about 60% of non-serious pathologies can be attenuated or even resolved in more than 80%, with only twenty minutes of treatment.

  - And how does that thing work?!

  - You’ll have to sit back. I’ll follow you in the recommended steps. You will confirm that it is simple to handle!

  The President looked at his interlocutor, unbelieving, but gave the benefit of the doubt and did what the doctor had just recommended.

  - Now what?!

  - Please keep your head and arms in resting positions. Breathe normally! When you press this green button, the head and armrests will automatically adjust, and then the device will start a series of routines and finally give us diagnostic information on this display and start treatment. I ask you one more thing, Mr. President, during this period please keep still! As you will be able to see from the display, the device will carry out the diagnosis by means of pulses and identify the energy deviations. When it is finished, it will correct the deviations found.

  The President made a small effort to remain motionless while following, incredulously, the display of the equipment and the doctor’s instructions.

  -You’ll begin to feel light currents in your wrists and various parts of your body. Don’t worry, they are the energetic adjustments to be performed by the electrodes through the acupuncture points. This cycle takes about twenty minutes, at the end you will start another one preceded by a new diagnosis that compares with the previous data. If everything is correct, the treatment will be completed, otherwise instructions to move to a different treatment will appear on the monitor. Let’s proceed.

  About thirty minutes later, the treatment had finished and without any additional indication on the display. The doctor then sought confirmation.

  - How are you feeling, Mr. President?!

  - Rejuvenated! I don’t have that annoying headache anymore.

  From that moment on, he had a permanent sense of well-being. Despite the busy schedule, the day turned out to be pleasant, and easy to accomplish. In the following days and whenever it was possible, he would have two sessions of therapy: one for regularization and the other for cell rejuvenation. Af
ter two weeks the results were surprising - he had developed a new working capacity and this became evident to those around him! Snu, while scheduling a meeting, commented on this with the President’s Secretary: