NABC Chapter 534: Schiller's Expertise (1)
Chapter 534: Schiller's Expertise (1)
chapter 534: schiller's expertise (1)
left or right, that is the question.
before delving into this matter, it is necessary to clarify what is meant by left and what is meant by right. some might think that communism is left and capitalism is right, but that's not entirely accurate.
when this concept was initially developed, left represented radicalism, while right represented conservatism. later, marc believed that left-leaning represented advanced systems and the lower classes, while right-leaning represented traditional systems and the privileged class.
in western economic society, left stands for democracy, and right stands for freedom. correct, initially, democracy and freedom were actually opposing concepts.
specific details need not be elaborated, but one must mention one thing: the far left and the far right.
the so-called far left, summarized with a not entirely accurate but relatively simple concept, is the unrestricted sacrifice of personal freedom for the sake of public security, with everything under the absolute control of the mighty state apparatus, leaving no personal freedoms intact.
on the other hand, the far right advocates for the removal of all restrictions, the elimination of benefits for the weak, survival of the fittest, with no governmental control. it involves an oligarchic rule and the pursuit of absolute freedom.
many people might have already realized that in fact, the superhero registration act is a left-leaning act.
as previously mentioned, only left-leaning approaches would concern themselves with the safety of the lower classes, that is, the so-called public safety. they advocate sacrificing some personal freedom to support the weaker individuals, striving for equality.
if it were a right-leaning approach, they simply wouldn't bother with this act. the strong superheroes would become stronger, the weaklings weaker, and it would be their own problem.
but the problem is, this is the u.s., a capitalist country where right-wing ideologies prevail. however, why is this the case? it's related to the concepts previously mentioned. the capitalists surely hope the government won't meddle in the economy, the less regulation, the better; ideally, they don't want to provide welfare to the lower classes so they won't have to pay taxes.
so, in a country like this, why was the superhero registration act introduced? there are two reasons.
firstly, fundamentally, politicians differ from capitalists. politicians are not gold-centered, but power-centered. their everything relies on the size of their authority. the priority of anything can't surpass the magnitude of their power.
therefore, ideological struggles are like a gun. they shoot when they need to shoot, but it's best to stay silent when they don't need to shoot. as long as they can control these superheroes to serve their authority, ideology is not the most important aspect.
secondly, the survival of the fittest advocated by the right is not suitable in this case. because, for superheroes, all ordinary people are weaker. survival of the fittest would mean they are offering themselves up as a meal to the superheroes.
when the superheroes are strong, they naturally advocate survival of the fittest. but when they are weak, they must propose laws to restrict and supervise the strong. this is why the debate between left and right is an eternal proposition, always swinging back and forth.
someone might say, since left-leaning tendencies are more inclined toward communism and the concerns of the lower classes, congress plays the role of liberator in this matter, and they are the good guys.
however, it's not that simple. left and right are not only about actions and results, but also about motives. to truly understand the essence through appearances in the ideological struggle, one must look at the primary motives.
congress proposing this act is fundamentally not about the concerns of the lower classes. the statement by the congressman who chaired the meeting, "public safety is our top priority," can be interpreted the other way around.
in reality, public safety is their last concern. their first concern is the size of their authority, the second is the division of authority, the third is personal interests, and only then may the safety of ordinary people be considered.
or, in fact, they might have never considered the safety of ordinary people, because they are well aware that once conflicts among superheroes are provoked, resulting in wars, it could pose a greater threat to public safety, but they don't care at all.
so, if we must categorize the superhero registration act, we can say that the logic of the content is left-leaning, but the motives and eventual results are certainly right-leaning.
having analyzed this, let's now look at the choices of all the characters in the original comic.
iron man chose to agree with the act, while captain america chose to disagree. this is not fundamentally because iron man protects ordinary people and captain america defends the superheroes, but because the congressmen set a trap with this act.
in other words, they showed iron man the left-leaning aspects of the act, and with iron man's intelligence, he could naturally understand that the act is left-leaning. if fully implemented, it could protect ordinary citizens.
but what they showed captain america was the extreme left-leaning part of the act, which involves excessive sacrifice of personal freedom to achieve dominance, including the aftermath of a failed implementation leading to mutual destruction.
fundamentally, the two of them saw different parts of this proposal. it's not accurate to say who's right or wrong. if one must find the culprit of this internal conflict, it's the person who came up with this act and used semantic games and information gaps to differentiate the two.
from this logic, there are many ways to address the issue of the superhero registration act leading to an internal conflict.
for instance, serving as a mediator, eliminating the information gap between the two, allowing them to understand each other's pursuits and concerns. this approach could have a high probability of diffusing the conflict, making them sit down and talk. however, the final outcome might still be the implementation of the registration act, just softened, shifting from a left-leaning approach to a more moderate middle ground. the ultimate aim of the act would then transition from expanding authority to maintaining the status quo.
on the surface, this seems like a win-win situation, but in reality, the superheroes are still taking a step back, and as long as there's a first step, there will be second and third steps.
schiller's enthusiasm was running too high. if he followed schiller's words now, the next step would be freeing washington.
moreover, did others not know? didn't he know? schiller has even gone mad enough to want to resurrect the soviet union. now, with his foot on the gas pedal, he will do whatever it takes to find every reason to press down. stark must not give schiller this opportunity.
so, despite stark's alignment with the ideology of the act, he can't express his agreement now. if he says he agrees, it's like pouring fuel into the tank. once the fuel is in, if schiller steps on the gas, red skull might just resurrect in north america.
thus, stark and schiller began to debate.
but as is well known, the more extreme the rhetoric, the stronger the aggression, and the better it occupies a favorable position in a debate. schiller firmly held onto the core left-leaning idea, that everyone should serve the public, all becoming cogs in the national machine to achieve true equality and democracy.
in that case, if stark still clung to his right-leaning theory, there would be no way he could overcome schiller. therefore, he had to lean further and further right, until he reached the far right, to possibly stand against schiller.
but then the question arises, can congress accept the far left? or can they accept the far right?
in fact, they can't accept either.
the far left would mean the imminent revival of red skull, while the far right would mean weakening the government's authority to a minimum, allowing economic magnates to dominate. that's not what they want at all.
it's like asking them to choose between two piles of excrement, one smelling worse than the other.
in reality, they just wanted to create a law that would cause internal strife between superheroes and s.h.i.e.l.d., thereby boosting their own power. how did it suddenly turn into an ideological battle of life and death between them?
but now, schiller had already shattered the ceiling. the superheroes present had been drawn into the increasingly intense debate between him and stark.
debates among intelligent people often carry strong emotional undertones. the atmosphere had been set for this. if the future direction of the u.s. wasn't decided today, it couldn't possibly end well. at least that's how the observing superheroes saw it.
but the problem is, congress doesn't actually want an ideological battle. everyone knows that once this sort of struggle begins, everyone present, whether leaning left or right, won't escape a terrifying purge.
finally, one of the congressmen who was presiding over the meeting couldn't take it any longer. he slammed the table and said, "both sides, calm down! quiet! listen to me! stop!!"
his next words were meant to get both sides to calm down and avoid escalating the situation to an overly extreme level. he was about to use some clichéd words for conflict resolution and announce the end of the meeting.
they could continue another day, excluding this extremist moon knight, and then use other reasons to incite iron man and captain america.
but just as he was about to say this, schiller pointed his finger, and a silver light struck the congressman. suddenly, he found he couldn't make a sound.
at this moment, he heard schiller say:
"to prove that i'm not all talk, i'm willing to set an example. i'll first disclose my own true identity and specific abilities to show my commitment to public safety."
as he spoke, the silver on him gradually receded, and even the iron mask over his mouth disappeared. after revealing his face, not many recognized him because he rarely appeared in public. he then introduced himself.
"i know that not many people know me, but i must introduce myself. i'm schiller rodriguez, a psychologist. you can find my papers in major journals. without false modesty, my academic level is quite decent."
"at the same time, i also serve as a psychologist in s.h.i.e.l.d. this one here, iron man, received 230 hours of treatment from me, and this one here, captain america, was scheduled for 130 sessions of treatment by s.h.i.e.l.d., though he only attended less than half of them..."
"as for the others..." schiller gestured to the superheroes present. "you should know that pressure is heavy even for superheroes, and they are all regulars at my place."
by this point, the expressions of everyone below had changed. s.h.i.e.l.d.'s psychologist was far left, and every superhero present had received his treatment...
was it treatment or preaching?!
but what schiller said next truly sent a chill down their spines.
"and my abilities... perhaps you know someone, my special abilities, in terms of type and intensity, are quite similar to his. that someone is—"
"professor x."
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