The Rise of Australasia

Chapter 915: Bustling Dock {2)

Mastering public opinion is quite important, whether in Australasia or Europe and America, having control over public opinion always allows Arthur to take the lead and have the initiative in certain matters.

Currently, the Royal financial group owns multiple newspapers in major European countries and the United States, which appear to belong to different owners on the surface. This also facilitates Arthur when he carries out propaganda without arousing suspicion.

Moreover, with the control over major media in Australasia, Arthur is also one of the world’s largest opinion leaders, capable of easily spreading his ideas globally.

January 11, 1928, Los Angeles, California State.

"Ally, we need to leave early today. If we go late, we won’t be able to grab any fruit," said the sturdy middle-aged man as he dressed, speaking to his busy wife by his side.

"I know, Tom. Didn’t you say the government issued some kind of relief policy? Why do we still have to scramble for those rotten fruits?" asked the woman named Alice with a puzzled face, but her hands did not stop moving because of her question.

"Who knows? That’s something only God might answer. Perhaps it will take time for the policy to be communicated, dear. Don’t worry, we’ll get better," Tom quickly comforted his wife before heading to the nearby dock with his family in tow.

Despite the relatively cold morning, the dock was bustling. Not because of any attractive activities but because every so often, the wealthy would discard their leftovers and rotten fruit and vegetables at the dock, and the ordinary city residents would rush forward to vie for them, creating quite a spectacle.

The wealthy called these poor people scavenging wild dogs and some even threw rotting food at them as if it were target practice, eliciting joy and thanks from the poor instead.

Arriving at the dock with Alice and their daughter, Tom first found a spot with fewer people and waited quietly for the wealthy to arrive.

During the extended economic crisis, the poor and the wealthy of Los Angeles had silently agreed that every few days, they would dispose of unwanted food and rotting produce here, which was the wealthy’s idea of relief for the poor.

As for why throw it at the docks? Fresh food and produce were regularly transported there, then loaded onto trucks for delivery to the homes of the wealthy.

While checking the fresh items, the wealthy would conveniently dispose of their unwanted goods, attracting the multitude of poor people.

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Some poor people even crazily chased the trucks, but after being threatened with firearms and even a few being killed, they changed from chasing to following the trucks, hoping to pick up any vegetables that might fall off.

"Here they come!"

Someone suddenly shouted, and Tom immediately got on his tiptoes to look, indeed seeing a transport ship approaching the dock.

As the transport ship neared, it meant that the trucks of the wealthy would also arrive. And on those trucks was the food the poor dearly longed for, the very thing they were waiting for.

"Ally, let’s split up. I’ll go where there are more people; you stay here to see if there’s a chance," Tom told his wife.

The dock’s center was crowded with hundreds of poor people scrambling for food; having his wife join the fray was clearly unwise.

After all, the dock wasn’t very large, and the scrum of hundreds could easily cause a stampede, which the poor could not afford.

There was no communication between the poor and the rich. As the cars of the rich arrived, plenty of rotten leaves, spoiled fruit, and moldy food were dumped right onto the dock floor.

Tom didn’t care whether these were things he normally wouldn’t even glance at; he reached out and snatched them into his own bowl.

The others around him were not to be outdone, each one fiercer than the next, like wild dogs guarding their food.

"Mama, look, these people are grabbing trash!" a little girl suddenly exclaimed from the car, reminding Tom of his daughter—equally innocent but with starkly different status and life.

"Alice, what’s so interesting about a bunch of wild dogs?" the lady inside the car pulled the window curtain, speaking disdainfully to her daughter.

"But aren’t they people too?" the little girl asked curiously.

"Alice, you need to understand. Those who contribute are people; those who don’t are just animals," the lady patiently explained to her daughter while quietly waiting for her own items.

Indeed, the lady’s visit was not for those cheap fruits and vegetables. Being one of the rare rich families in Los Angeles, her focus was always on high-end jewelry, fragrances, and red wine—this trip was just by chance.

Thinking of his daughter made Tom momentarily distracted, and he ended up losing ground in the scramble that followed.

By the time Tom came to his senses, most of the food on the dock had been taken by others, and what was left really was moldy and inedible.

Shaking his head in resignation, Tom quickly stood to look for his wife. Now, their only hope was that Alice had managed to get more food to ensure they wouldn’t go hungry in the coming days.

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