Chapter 178: Selling Toys

William White was living a relaxed life, but the big shots in Washington were having none of it. As the leader of the most powerful nation, it was a rather stifling situation.

After the unilateral withdrawal from the Bretton Woods system, the European partners were upset, leading to the creation of the European Union.

They didn't care much about this; even banded together they didn't pose a threat. When push came to shove, they believed it was the Americans who had to come to the rescue.

Well, they were asking for help now, so they needed to figure something out.

The so-called Soviet exercises scared a lot of people.

For Pete's sake! Deploying a few thousand troops was intimidating enough, but hundreds of thousands? What kind of exercise is that? With such military power, Europe could be easily overrun without encountering much resistance.

Europeans realized that their big brother was unreliable. Without some might of their own, even with help from the Americans, they might not survive long enough to see reinforcements.

The big shots didn't like the European Union, not one bit. A single European country couldn't escape America's control, but if these nations worked together, it was a different ball game.

The world was bipolar back then: the USSR and the USA. Other countries were just bystanders; if another power emerged, it would certainly weaken America's overall strength.

Prevent it?

Not possible. The U.S. couldn't even ensure their safety.

It was kind of amusing: after hundreds of years of battling each other, Europe ended up being overshadowed by Russians and cowboys.

Before World War II, Europe was the center of the world, and America was just a wild land. They fought each other into ruin. By then, old America was probably laughing its head off.

The Soviet threat continued, making the European allies jumpy. Meanwhile, at home, things weren't calm either, with someone likening Washington to IBM.

Thinking of NBC, the old guys were exasperated. A perfectly good ally turned into chaos like that.

As for Citibank, they shouldn't expect any orders without a proper explanation.

William White? Let him have his arrogance.

President Reagan had awful luck. He'd barely begun his term when he was shot. If the bullet had been a little bigger, he might not have survived.

Typically, a new official has a honeymoon phase, usually about six months. It's the best time to implement effective policies. If they haven't taken effect by the midterms, he'd be in trouble.

The support gained from surviving the shot was wasted during this incident. Who could be more unfortunate?

Americans were superstitious, believing it was God's will that old Reagan survived to save the country.

...

William White was working hard and couldn't care less about these matters. In his view, the problems existed due to indulgence. Why feel aggrieved when Washington's big guy had real grievances?

"George, why are you here? Shouldn't you be attending to your dad?"

"What? Not happy to see me?"

"Oh please, I haven't been going out much to stir trouble. I'm helping with national employment. The governor is thinking of giving me an award."

"Ha, the big shot in Washington is foaming at the mouth. IBM? How did you come up with that?"

"Wasn't my doing. The editor was fired. Could you put in a good word for me?"

Looking at the situation helplessly, George shrugged. "Why didn't he just blame a temp? Would an ordinary editor dare write that?"

"Anyway, the military orders might be reduced. Don't provoke them."

William White was shocked. He couldn't understand how things had come to this.

"Alright, as long as they don't provoke me, I won't strike."

"Is there a chance for cooperation?"

"No way. Those jerks are untrustworthy. They'll come after me eventually. One can't guard against internal threats. I'm not willing to invite trouble."

...

As the exercise time approached, the Soviets noticed something unusual: they hadn't managed to scare the Americans, but they sure scared the neighbors. Honestly, the decision for this exercise didn't matter much to the Soviets. Maybe they just had a bit too much to drink and decided to spook the United States a bit.

Well, they succeeded beyond imagination. Not just the United States, the whole world was on edge. The Soviets felt aggrieved, thinking they were just trying to assert some deterrence. Expansion? Get real; you think you can bully someone into not throwing a nuclear bomb? If it really came down to it, mutual destruction was on the table. You might be able to destroy them hundreds of times, but they only need to do it once.

At this point, lowering the exercise standards wasn't an option. With no choice, they invited some neighbors, trying to show that they were behaving reasonably.

William White didn't care if the Soviets were serious or not; his toys were already on the shelves.

On the same day as the Soviet military exercise, the Transformers cartoon premiered globally. Other TV stations were understandable, but NBC really pushed it, airing Transformers right after the evening news. Technically, the military exercise had nothing to do with him, but tying the releases together seemed quite childish.

If it was just the United States, it might have been overlooked. But it was like this worldwide. For an unknown cartoon to dominate prime time -- what kind of price tag made this possible? Is this a cartoon or a commercial? Are the TV stations crazy? No, it was William White who had gone crazy, as these cartoons were mostly free.

Why say mostly free? Broadcast during prime time for free, but showing it at regular times was very costly -- your choice. Corporations were confused about his intentions. Experts gave the cartoon a high rating, but couldn't understand why it was free.

...

"What? This piece of junk costs five hundred bucks? You gotta be joking!"

"Boss, there were also those that cost three thousand, but they're sold out. Supposedly there were just a thousand worldwide."

"What about the sales of the cheaper ones?"

"Very odd. The more expensive ones got snatched up immediately, those after me could only buy ones costing dozens, and hardly anyone bought the cheaper ones."

"You sure you're not pulling my leg? It's just a toy, right?"

"Boss, this one transforms."

This scene played out in different places. The older folks couldn't understand the fuss about transforming. A truck and a robot combo was surely cheaper than Transformers.

"Hmph, two million bucks to buy out Transformers; have they lost their mind?" Hasbro had regretted it long ago; fifty million wouldn't be unreasonable.

Everyone knew William White wasn't keen on running factories. They assumed a production license would fetch two million bucks, thinking greed shouldn't be boundless.

*****

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