Fu Song's concern was not an unfair concern. While he was translating for David Harvey, he was also trying to use his brain and thinking about how he would answer this question if he was David Harvey?

If time goes back to 4 years ago, then this question is easy to answer. Although I felt the stones and exposed a series of problems, at least most people believed that reform and opening up was the general trend of history.

If time jumps to 4 years later, this question will be better answered, because in these four years, various ideas and opinions have emerged like mushrooms after a rain, and all kinds of gods have appeared. After countless fierce collisions, the old man once again showed unparalleled control and drove the giant ship of China to a safe route.

Although Fu Song didn't know where the end of this route was, he knew that, at least in the next thirty years, this giant ship had suffered various hardships, but he had been moving forward bravely, day and night...

But this year is a very delicate time point. In the past decade, the economy has been in a process of making a bigger cake. Most of the problems and contradictions are covered up by development. Once the economy stagnates, the cake will not only no longer grow, but will be in the danger of shrinking. Previous problems and contradictions are exposed one by one.

Especially in the past four years, investment, consumption inflation and currency issuance have been out of control, and various contradictions and problems accumulated in the operation of the current economic system have begun to show signs in society since the beginning of this year. For example, the wave of buying and bank runs in Shanghai in March are a clear sign.

Continuous inflation has intensified people's psychological expectations of price increases unprecedentedly, and eventually triggered a nationwide rush to buy around the summer. Inflation does not enable forced savings and increase accumulation as some people say, but has a negative effect on savings, causing a landslide that has not been seen in many years, and the national economy has been greatly affected.

An economic crisis is essentially a kind of redistribution of wealth. Inflation leads to unfair income distribution, and the wealth of most people shrinks. People are very dissatisfied and begin to think about the reasons for these problems.

Logically speaking, over the years, people's income has increased, living standards have improved, urban people can watch TV, and rural people can have enough food. Everyone should be content, but as the saying goes, don't worry about being weak but not being equal, your wealth is shrinking day by day, and others' wealth is increasing day by day. If others rely on their real skills to achieve wealth growth, most people may not have complained, but what is the reality?

Therefore, the negative sentiment in society is very high. The discussion about whether to continue moving forward, step on the brakes and check it out, or drive backwards.

Even many people in China are in a state of confusion. It is difficult for a foreigner who has come to China to answer this question for the first time.

After Fu Song finished translating the question, he whispered to Harvey: "You can talk about this question in general or not, it doesn't matter, most people will definitely understand it."

David Harvey smiled back and said, "This is a question that is both interesting and serious. The reason why it is interesting is that I am full of interest in everything in Red China; the reason why it is serious is that a Marxist should not make arbitrary judgments and conclusions before fully understanding something."

There is no right to speak without investigation. Somehow, this sentence suddenly popped up in Fu Song's mind.

"I don't know much about China, but some truths are common all over the world, such as the logic of capital operation. So, let me talk about my own views from this perspective."

The audience spoke in a low voice and felt that Harvey was a little irresponsible, but Fu Song didn't think so. With his understanding of Harvey, he would never make such a low-level mistake in such an occasion.

"There are four stages of capital operation: value production, value realization, value allocation and value appreciation. The operation of capital is to cycle along these four stages. Products (including value) are produced and sold on the market to realize value. The marker of value realization is currency, so there is a problem of how to distribute these currencies. Finally, how to use currency in hand? People with less money can only buy necessities for daily life, but people with more money can invest and increase value again. Therefore, these invested currencies begin the next cycle. As long as capitalism is there, this cycle is infinite, and because of the rising movement, it can be shown as a spiral shape."

The audience nodded at the same time. Although they were still confused, Harvey's words were unanimously agreed.

"The cycle of capital is an objective process of the development of things. The key is that a human subjective factor is incorporated into this process. Combined with the operation of capital, the greed in human nature and the infinite greed for profits. There is no most, only more, this is the infinity of capital. When I was in the United States, I really liked to watch a TV show and the animal world, so I could distinguish some differences between humans and lions. For example, lions have a strong ability to prey, but after they eat, they no longer hunt. But people are different. They will "hun without hunger", continue to hunt prey, then pile up, take it for themselves, and then..."

David Harvey's words were simply heartbroken. Fu Song was translating and looking at the audience's expressions on the podium. Sure enough, many people's faces were a little unnatural.

"If we look at the technological changes of capitalism, we can see that half of the technological changes are to speed up the turnover of capital. This puts great pressure on society and makes society have to accelerate its operation. This is the case with the invention and widespread dissemination of Ford assembly line, and the emergence of the piece-based wage system. To accelerate production, we must accelerate the realization of value. So how can we accelerate the realization? People need to consume faster. Indeed, we see that the development of capitalism is also a process that inspires human consumption needs, from simple demand to complex demands, from necessities consumption, to luxury consumption and showing off consumption..."

The atmosphere in the venue became more and more depressing, because David Harvey's words were like a sharp dagger, like peeling an onion, showing the essence of capitalist production to everyone. No one here was foolish, so naturally they knew that whether in capitalist countries or in socialist countries, as long as it was capitalist production, their essence was the same.

"I'm still using my grandmother's knives for 120 years. If the goods produced by capital have been used for so long, capital will collapse. Capital likes to produce products that are easy to damage and must be updated quickly. The role of the market is to promote you to speed up consumption. This has greatly affected people's lives."

When everyone smiled knowingly when David Harvey gave his own example, it made the originally depressing atmosphere relax.

Next, David Harvey continued to quote from capitalist production to value realization, from consumption to distribution, from distribution to capital appreciation and reproduction.

Finally, he said: "Many people say that David Harvey is a persistent Marxist scholar. I think it is necessary to correct it. I think the so-called persistence here is not about faith, but about the application of Marxist theory. I have always insisted that Marxist theory is applied to the whole world and faces various problems. So, back to the question of the gentleman just now, my answer is that China has no particularity. Because you also drive cars, banks, hotels, and factories. How did they be established and how did they work? These are different ways of capital development, and the essential logic is the same."

When Fu Song finished translating to Harvey, he had to admire his solidity and proficiency in the application of theory, and even praised the artistry of his speeches.
Chapter completed!