Chapter 357 What is Charity
"Brother Dong, I know what you mean by charity. Isn't it just something learned from Western societies to flatter those hypocritical rich people?"

Wang Deming sneered when he heard Mr. Huo say the word charity.

"In my opinion, this kind of charity is more like the wealthy making dirty money while trying to gild their own reputation."

"There is nothing new under the sun. How is this different from the kind-hearted people in ancient times who built bridges and roads and distributed porridge? Isn't it because they have monopolized most of the wealth and land in the market that there are so many refugees?"

"Real charity doesn't even include dividing the land equally, they're not even willing to lower the rent or interest, right?"

Mr. Huo was speechless for a moment after hearing Wang Deming's theory. In the end, he could only attribute it to the education he received in mainland China. After thinking for a moment, he retorted: "Deming, your statement is a socialist statement."

“Capitalism is about the sanctity of private property.”

"If this rule didn't exist, how could so many people work so hard and save money to start businesses? Look at the people in Hong Kong. Mr. Bao, Mr. Cao, and Mr. Chen are all frugal and don't spend their money recklessly."

"You can't just spend the money you worked so hard to earn without any distinction, right?"

“Haha, Brother Dong, wait a minute.” Wang Deming laughed happily, “Hey, I just caught a big fish!”

He sat there without getting up, holding the fishing rod in one hand and continuously and rapidly releasing the fishing line. Even so, the fishing rod had already bent into a semicircle and was shaking violently, and the creaking of the bamboo lining at the innermost part of the fishing rod could be heard.

There are no carbon fiber fishing rods these days. The fishing rods they use are made of special bamboo rods and wooden rods, which are coated with a layer of aluminum alloy on the outside.

"Splash!" The big fish kept rolling over the side of the yacht, making huge splashes of water.

The children were all attracted to get back on the boat and clapped and cheered behind Wang Deming.

After a while, Wang Deming exerted a little force with his right arm and pulled the big fish to the side of the yacht.

"Wow, such a big grouper!" Mr. Huo was also shocked. "It must be 2 meters long, right?"

He looked at the fishing rods propped up on the side of the yacht in disbelief, "Deming, you can catch all these?"

Usually on a wooden boat, you need to use a fishing rod at least as thick as your arm and a very thick fishing line to catch such a big fish.
"As for luck, Brother Dong, you know, my luck has always been good."

Wang Deming stretched out his hand to signal the bodyguard to take the children a little further away. He went straight up and easily dragged the grouper onto the deck. The big fish's tail flapped weakly.
Wang Deming saw the children rushing over excitedly, and with a slight smile, he stepped on the fish's head with one foot to prevent the children from being hurt by excessive movements.

Children rarely see such a big fish, and they excitedly crawled around and touched the fish.

At this time, Wang Deming said to Mr. Huo beside him: "Brother Dong, this is the difference in education. I think what is said in Capital is right. The reason why bosses are rich is that they have appropriated the surplus value created by the labor of others."

“The only difference is whether the first pot of gold was obtained through hard work and wisdom, or through improper means.”

"But no matter what?" He pointed at the fish under his feet, "We eat meat, but we have to share the soup with others. Otherwise, it will be like the economic crisis and the Great Depression in capitalist countries. The wealth will not flow. Unless it is resolved by external wars, like the two world wars, otherwise..."

"What else?"

"Otherwise, there will be subversion from within." Wang Deming gently gave the answer: "This is also the reason why the feudal dynasties in ancient China have never been able to escape the cycle law. When the lower-class people are no longer suppressed and rise up in resistance."

"Of course, things are different now. There are firearms, but they still need people to operate them."

Mr. Huo frowned and nodded slowly, "I understand. Deming, what you mean is that wealth is like water, which needs to flow up and down continuously. Once the water is gathered in the high places, the water in the low places will become less and less, and someone will definitely break it." "That's right!"

"Alas," Mr. Huo smiled bitterly, "Deming, you have convinced me. I will implement a salary increase in the company, but I still need to find someone to research the specific amount."

"Why do we need to find other people? We can just talk to the people below. That's why I keep urging you to read Selected Works of Mao Zedong. The first chapter of Volume 1, "Who Are Our Friends and Who Are Our Enemies," clearly explains what a class survey is."

Wang Deming waved his hand and said, "Let's just learn step by step!"

"Okay!" Mr. Huo nodded heavily, "Then under what name?"

"It's the Hong Kong Construction Federation, the Mutual Aid Association, you can give it any name. We just need to set standards. If other construction industries don't follow ours, we will do it." Wang Deming raised his eyebrows slightly at Mr. Huo.

“Then don’t sell them river sand and cement!”

"Bingo!" Wang Deming snapped his fingers proudly.

"Dad, are we going to eat it today?"

"Yup!"

"But we can't eat such a big fish?"

“Of course I’ll give it to others.”

The yacht slowly returned home, and when Mr. Huo got home, he called his friends to come and eat this big fish together.
The next day, Wang Deming and Mr. Huo, each wearing a safety helmet and holding a small notebook, took a group of people to the construction site to chat with the workers.

There are not many questions. The first one is definitely: the expected daily or weekly salary. In this era, Hong Kong was influenced by England, and salaries were mostly calculated based on days or weeks.

Then it gradually extended to working hours, free lunch every day, labor safety protection and so on.

Finally, they will ask many questions about family situation, children’s education, etc.

The two of them didn't go there every day. After all, Wang Deming had to go to the clinic of China Resources Company, and Mr. Huo was also busy with a lot of business.

But we have always arranged people to conduct questionnaires.

At the beginning, the content of the questionnaire was relatively normal, such as being satisfied with the current salary, not minding overtime, etc., and being afraid of being fired.

It was not until Wang Deming secretly arranged for drivers Ali and Ahua to find someone to tell the construction workers that this was in preparation for a future salary increase that this questionnaire finally became of reference value.

比如希望日薪可以12块，也有人希望15块，要15块的表示可以加班3、4个小时.
In the 60s, the average monthly salary in Hong Kong was around HK$200. Since construction workers engaged in heavy physical labor, they generally earned around HK$300 a month.

In fact, there is no such thing as overtime pay in this era. Most construction workers are paid on a daily basis and have a high degree of mobility.

Many people only see on TV news that the tycoons in Hong Kong have all made their fortunes in real estate. A few billion is not a lot, hundreds of billions is not a small amount, and the most impressive ones have hundreds of billions. But no one has ever paid attention to the construction workers who bear the sweat.

Before liberation, the countryside surrounded the cities. Now Wang Deming is preparing to take the route of the lower classes, uniting the lower class workers to influence the superstructure.
The working class needs to unite
(End of this chapter)